Team Nikita
by ChicaNikki149
Summary: A story of a kick butt ensemble of characters joining together and bringing down Divison, and all the insanities that happen in between. Does have alot of Mikita. Read & Review Please
1. Boys Will Be Boys

(A/N: I have NOT given up on "Where We Belong" in fact I should have the fourth chapter up shortly after this one is posted but you guys gotta know one thing about me (besides my intense Mikita love) I have a bit of ADD with my writing. I always finish the ones I start but I usually have more than one going at the same time and typically completely different stories so maybe you guys will like that or hate it, I don't know, I just hope you enjoy the stories! I like this one. I wrote this first chapter about a week ago and can't wait to continue! It will have LOTS of Mikita, but its mainly an ensemble story. Its somewhat future-ly set but not too distant.)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything! Not the show, the characters, nothing except the plot! As per usual, if I owned Nikita, this stupid hiatus would NOT be happening

Nikita opened the door to her lair, completely drained from the past two weeks events. Michael finding out about her and Alex was never supposed to happen. Michael and her reuniting, no matter how miraculous, was not supposed to happen. However, she couldn't deny the happiness she allowed herself to feel when she was with him. Happiness was also not supposed to be part of the equation (unless it came to destroying Division), but it was undeniable, much like her and Michael. Not only that, but with Alex getting more complicated missions, it made it even harder for the two to get together and work everything out. Michael had been trying his best to help, but he also had to maintain his cover for now- this WAS part of the plan.

But another thing that wasn't part of Nikita's master plan? Walking into her living space and seeing two men gun wielding men.

"What the hell is going one?" She demanded fiercely, running inbetween the men.

"You tell me!"

"He was in here when I came in!"

Both Michael and Owen replied respectively, their weapons well positioned on one another.

"Ohmygod!" Nikita groaned in aggravation, "First things first, put the guns away!"

"Nikita..." Michael began in a warning tone, but the glare he was shot by her stopped him and he reluctantly lowered the pistol and holstered it; Owen did the same.

"Nikita, can you please explain why I walk in here to see Percy's lapdog in here?" Owen questioned, and luckily anticipating the next move, Nikita blocked Michael from lunging at the blonde.

"Owen, what are you doing here? Last time we spoke..."

"Are you serious? You're interrogating me when..." He gestured to Michael, who scowled in return.

"Just shut up and answer her question!"

"Answer her...?" Owen started, utterly confused, and suddenly he glanced between his former oartner-in-crime and former boss, "Oh seriously? You're sleeping with Division? Literally?"

"I don't think thats any of your business," The opposite male in the room stated, however, an expression of pride sneaking onto his face. Nikita noticed this and rolled her eyes. She saw that the former Guardian was about to respond, so she decided it was time to interject.

"Both of you, shut up!" She turned to Owen, "Michael is on our team." She could sense another interruption so she hastily finished, "And that's all you need to know. You..." She addressed towards Michael, "Owen, no matter how frustrating..." Now it was Owen's turn to roll his eyes while she continued, "Has been an essential part in this whole thing so BOTH of you play nice or else."

Michael couldn't contain a snort, "Or else?"

Nikita stared at him, both irritated and secretly entertained by the playful gleam in his eye and the smirk stretching across his lips. She stalked closer to him, a smirk of her own making its way across her beautiful face that her lover couldn't help but gaze at.

"Or else," She reached up, her lips brushing against his ear, "I'll be rougher than neccesary." Suddenly, he felt a sharp jab to his abdomen. Releasing a painful groan, he muttered a "Fine."

When Nikita heard laughter in the backround, she spun around and glared at Owen, "What are you laughing at?" Her hand slid up and rested on her hip, awaiting an answer.

"He's... you're... so whipped!" He managed tosay inbetween loud chuckles.

Nikita walked over to him, "Hmm, whipped, good idea." She proved what the comment meant by pulling her gun out and hitting him over the head in rapid motion. Owen fell to the floor, unconscious, and Nikita put her gun away and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Nice work," Michael commented, then joining his lady love in lifting Owen onto the cot in the room, "But you couldn't have let me do that ten minutes ago?"

"I didn't want to do that, but I had to shut one of you up. I was getting a headache."

Michael wrapped his muscular arms around her waist and reeled her into him, "I'm glad for once it wasn't me. Now about that 'roughness'..." He leant down and placed a few tender kisses down her neck. Despite the immense pleasure his touch made her feel and the time she knew they needed to make up for yet, she reluctantly withdrew from his hold.

"Michael, this is more complicated now..."

"It wasn't before?"

"More people are involved now; Its no longer just the two of us."

"It never has been," He added with a hint of saddness as he sat down on a chair and watched her pace.

"Michael, I'm serious. Owen's back now, Alex still doesn't know you're working with us..."

"You haven't told her?"

Nikita stopped and cocked her head to the side, "Well I've had so much free time on my hands lately."

Michael raised his eyebrows in amusement, "And this is my fault?"

"Well you certainly became a bigger distraction than you were before, especially when you showed up here that night," She teased, strolling over to him and he smiled.

"You wish I hadn't come?" She sat upon his lap and smirked at him.

"Bite your tongue." And with that they met in a heated lip lock.

After a few minutes of their sensual make out session, the pair reluctantly seperated at the sound of an ear piercing shriek.

So thats the end of chapter 1! I know I made Mikita a bit more playful than usual, but remember in this fic they're together (if you hadn't gathered lol) and I just picture them more open with eachother than anyone else. Oh also! I am not the only one to have the Owen vs. Michael thing apparently, because in 's AMAZING fic "Collide" here on , she did something similar, but her's is so much better you all need to go check out her Mikita trilogy! 


	2. Bonds Within the Team

(A/N: I love all of you awesome Nikita fans here on FF! Seriously, reviews make my day and I was so glad you guys liked the beginning of this fanfic because I'm pretty sure this is going to be one of the craziest ones I have/will ever write. LOL. It's probably going to be longer as well is I have plans for different sub stories within this fic so I really hope you continue to read and give me feedback :D Thank you!)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, simply the plots. -

"Oh! Ew, I mean.. Ohmigod! Oh this is not happening; Nikita I'm so sorry! Ew!", Alex nervously rambled off jumbled words of disgust and apologies, her hands masking her eyes in an attempt to block out all sight, "Oh man, I... I'll come back...sometime.."

"Alex! Wait!" Nikita called after the young woman, quickly hopping off Michael's lap. He also stood to his feet and straightened his jacket, trying to regain his normal stoic composure.

Alex tentatively rounded the corner again, her eyes glued to the floor tile, "I'm so sorry I didn't knock, I just wanted to tell you about the new op..."

"It doesn't matter, Alex I need to tell you something important."

"OK but..." Thats when the Russia native lifted her head and her attention was immiately drawn to Michael. "Michael? I...um..."

"Hello Alex," The former trainer responded cooly, leaving the 19 year old even more speechless than beforehand. Nikita stepped away from Michael's figure and walked towards her partner who instinctively took a step backward.

"You two... What the hell is going on?" Her tone was one of outrage and niether mentor could blame her. The shock alone from the scene she intruded upon would rattle anyone, but learning the identity of Nikita's lover is one of Division's heads? That could feel like betrayl, an emotion both Nikita and Michael knew to be lethal.

Nikita took a breath and began explaining, desperate for Alex to understand as quickly as possible, "Alex- listen to me, Michael is working with US now; He's going to bring down Division, just like we are. He is not a threat to you at all, or to me, I wouldn't let that happen."

Alex's jaw hung slightly as she glanced between the two older adults, "Are you serious?" She let her stare land on Michael, "You're working with us- err - Nikita?" She still wasn't sure whether the appearance was neccesary, this whole thing was still jarring.

Nikita allowed a smile of relief wash over her face, "He knows all about the partnership. Actually, we got sloppy. That or he has too much time on his hands", she smirked back at him and he rolled his eyes, "He found out about us."

"But you managed to...convince him to change sides?" There was no longer any trace of anger in her body, in fact the young prot g tried to cover a cheeky smile, but the innuendo within her question could not be hidden. She had always suspected something had happened between Michael and Nikita; the way they talked about the other, there was always something underlying there.

"She can be..." Michael cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable, "persuasive."

"Uh huh," Alex nodded with a grin before focusing her attention back on her long time ally, "So when did this happen?"

"About two weeks ago; I'm sorry I didn't tell you, there hasn't been much time", Nikita reasoned and the light haired brunette shook her head.

"No, it's fine. As long as we aren't being held in Percy's chamber with guns to our heads, I'm good. But um.. can I talk to you, privately?"

"Yeah, sure. Can you..?" Nikita faced Michael and gestured to the cot where Owen was still unconscious.

"Ofcourse", Michael replied, but his woman gave him a pointed look.

"No guns."

"I'm not the one who hit him with one," Michael quipped and Alex's eyes widened once again as she finally noticed Owen.

"Don't worry about it," Nikita muttered as she pulled Alex towards the kitchen.

When the women were alone in the room, Alex looked at Nikita with an intensity that her mentor had hardly seen from her and it slightly alarmed Nikita, "Are you positive you can trust Michael?"

Nikita sighed, "As unbelievable as it sounds, I do."

"OK I was just making sure because if you think he could switch..."

"He won't," Nikita cut her off adamently, "And its a major coup for us to have him on our side, Alex."

"I trust you... And I trust Michael too, especially if you trust him." Alex smiled at the rogue agent who returned the warm expression. Nikita put her hands on her young grasshopper's shouldars, and the light facial appearance fading into one of seriousness.

"We're so close to bringing these bastards to their knees," This was a fight they had been battling so long, not simply in a physical aspect, but mentally through the tragedies they endured at Division's devilish fingertips; It seemed almost unnatural to have confidence that justice would finally prevail. On the contrary, it was going to be more dangerous than ever, "Are you POSITIVE that you are all in because..."

"We have been in this together, since I took your hand and we are in this until the very end, together," She mimicked the one she called 'sensei', putting her own hands on Nikita's shouldars, "Face it Yoda, you're stuck with me forever." Its true, the two women were bonded for life, no matter what happened in the end with Division. Nikita was the only person who really loved Alex (besides her parents, and even that was questionable) and looked out for her. And for Nikita, Alex was the only person that she was proud to call "family". They weren't blood related, but it didn't matter; They WERE family.

Removing her arms and walking away from Nikita, Alex perched herself up on one of the counters. "Unfortuantly though my eyes are stuck with the image of you and Michael all over eachother, so are you FINALLY going to tell me what the deal is with the two of you?"

"Alex..." Nikita sighed, taking a seat on the countertop opposite of her partner's, who exaggerately rolled her eyes.

"Come ON!" She groaned, "I saw my two trainers makin' out- by the way is kind of like seeing your parent's kissing," Alex inwardly cringed and Nikita nearly choked on her own salavia and when she managed to cough a word, it was simply, "Parents?"

Alex giggled and continued, "You know what I mean. I think I deserve some details! You guys are obviously together, what's the big deal?"

For this comment she receieved a glare, "This isn't 'The View', eye on the prize."

"UGH! 'Eye on the prize', Nikita I saw you guys KISSING. Are you going to pretend that didn't happen? Are you guys gonna pretend that nothing is going around when people are around?"

"Speaking of people, the guy on the cot..." Alex couldn't resist slapping her palm against her forehead at the predictable change of subject, but allowed Nikita to finish the explaination free of interruptions.

Meanwhile in the living area, Michael was surveying some plans Nikita had masterminded in regards to one of their biggest obstacles before the actual Division takedown when he heard faint grunts and moans. He glanced up to see Owen stirring on the twin bed.

"Good morning sunshine," Michael flatly greeted; his voice doused in sarcasm and he resumed his reading prior to the third word he uttered.

"Wh-what the hell happened?" Owen mumbled and slowly sat up, holding his head gingerly.

"Gotta stop drinking so heavily, man." Because of the usual sternness of his voice, it took a few beats for Owen to realize Percy's golden boy was joking.

"Funny," He replied with a scowl plastered onto his face, but Michael had no reaction, he didn't even lift his head to match his own eyes; This irritated Owen, "So you got pissed and pistol whipped me? You really are the dick I thought you'd be." His insult didn't phase Michael, who scribbled something down on his reading material.

After he spoke again, "Actually you were hit- and judging by the short term memory loss- hit well by Nikita," His gaze finally drifted upward to meet Owen's across the room, but only for a moment.

At the new information, the rogue agent was shocked, but dismissed it quickly, "You're lying."

"I have no reason to when the reality is just that funny."

The room was silent and Owen swept his eyes around the room- No Nikita, "I remember her making us put our guns down, so if boss lady isn't here, why didn't you finish the job? Isn't that what dear ol' Percy taught you to do?"

Michael looked at him again, his cold glare chilling Owen similarly to how Percy's did many times in the past. Michael stood and strode across the room and retrieved his weapon from its holster, standing directly in front of the blonde; The barrel of the gun aimed at his head, "I could shoot you right now, the way I see it you're dead weight."

"Why not make it literal, right?"

Amused, Michael cracked a smirk at Owen's challenge, "Right, but," He surprised the fellow ex-Divison employee and returned his pistol to its former resting position, "Nikita wants you alive, so we're on the same team." He hated those words, it was like word vomit as he spewed it. He did not want to work with this smart-mouthed, former cleaener. Everytime he saw his face he remembered how he almost got Nikita killed by Percy; The tightness in his chest when his boss announced the two rogue agents were swimming with the fishes in the Hudson Bay- literally.

But to harness the resentment he withheld, he reminded himself Nikita was alive and that she ordered the punk to remain the same. Michael walked around the bed so he was closer to his opposition and displayed a wicked grin, "However, if you are the cause for anyone on this team to get hurt, specifically Nikita, I will not hesitate to empty a clip into your face."

Owne stared at him, not in anger and certainly not in fear,m but in odd admiration. It was obvious Michael was worried about Nikita; He loved her and after losing Emily, Owen couldn't fault the man for protecting her- no matter how violent it was. He outstretched his hand to the other male who raised his eyebrow at the gesture. Eventually, he met it with his own.

Nikita and Alex walked into the room and came to a halt at the sight of the two men,

"Just when I thought things couldn't get weirder," Alex mumbled and Nikita, still in shock, nodded.

"I can guarantee nothing will ever be weirder than this." 


	3. Much to Do About Birkoff

"Did you ladies get everything straightened out?" Michael inquired, making his way to the two women in the room, who were still weary of the situation they had interrupted.

"Not exactly," Alex directed towards Nikita, who shot her a stern look in return before turning back to Michael.

"Everything's fine."

He appeared skeptical but shrugged it off, "We're fine here."

Alex almost laughed out loud when Nikita developed an almost identical face of skepticism that Michael had previously had. She silently excused herself from the two, cautiously walking towards Owen, leaving the couple alone.

"Are you sure everything is alright with you and Alex because if-" Michael began in a hushed tone, but Nikita stopped him, putting her hands on his chest. It was shocking how her touch, no matter how miniscule, sent a tingle throughout his body unlike any other's could. This time it was one of those comforting touches and it did just as intended.

Nikita looked into his eyes, the ones that never fail to display what he's feeling (even when he doesn't want anything else to know), the ones that gave her strength, the ones that make her knees weak, and grinned, "Everything's FINE," She implored, remembering her conversation with her grasshopper about her and Michael, "Alex was joking about something." She slid her hands off of his body and folded her arms across her chest, "Are you and Owen-"

Michael narrowed his eyes, stopping Nikita from finishing her comment, "I rather not discuss it."

Nikita barely supressed a laugh and they stared at one another for a moment, before a 3rd voice broke through.

"Hey! Romeo and Juliet, we have a government group of trained assassins to annihilate so can you peel your eyes off eachother for 2 seconds?" Owen's rude butt in was unwelcomed by both Michael and Nikita who turned with fury blazing in their eyes. Alex snickered in the backround, anticipating an unkind punishment approaching for blonde malee.

Nikita took the initative, strolling from her current spot towards him, swinging her hips in a seductive fashion that made it difficult for the two men in the room to keep their composure. She walked behind Owen, dragging her finger across his left shouldar and then suddenly her arm was around his throat, leaving him devoid of oxygen. Alex was surprised, but watched carefully to see how the scene unfolded, while Michael beamed with pride (although not thrilled with the tactics she used to set an unsuspecting Owen up).

"Do NOT underestimate my committment in destorying Percy," She growled in his ear, before releasing her grip. As she rounded the bed and stood beside Alex she muttered, "I'm shocked you've even heard of Romeo and Juliet."

"Ha-ha," He replied dryly, rubbing his neck where Nikita's arm was choking him, "I thought in a group, the new kid was supposed to get picked on, so why isn't Mr. GQ over there getting choked?"

"Because I'm not new, nor an idiot," Michael offered in response and Alex chimed in as well.

"Yeah, he's not exactly the new one, him and Nikita worked together long before us."

"For Division," Owen shot back.

"So? They're been on the same team in the past, thats all I'm saying."

"For the bastard we want to destory," The banter between Owen and Alex stopped when he then switched his attention to Michael, "By the way, how is Percy? Obviously he doesn't know you're new... relationship, you would have at least 6 bullet wounds by now."

"Owen-shut up," Said Nikita in an aggrivated voice, "For now its best that Michael and Alex remain in their positions, it keeps them safe and it can get us more information."

"Until someone inside figures it out and then..." The former Guardian made a slashing motion with his finger across his throat, indicating the one thing no one in the room wanted to consider.

"No one will discover what Alex or I are doing, there's no longer a trail to connect Alex to Nikita and no one will look for it," Michael explained to the rest of the group and the two women grinned at one another, pleased with how things were working out. Both had been heavily determined to take down Division, but being this close was exhilirating- especially since they could be confident in their safety with Michael on their side.

"How did YOU find out anyway?" Owen asked and Michael shrugged at the seemingly simple question.

"Various phonecalls with Alex revealed a change in sound waves, so when Birkoff scanned-"

"Wait a second," Nikita abruptly interrupted, urgency in her voice, "You never mentioned Birkoff was involved."

"Relax, I order him to do various projects daily, he doesn't pay attention to why; He doesn't suspect anything."

Rolling her eyes at her lover's words, Nikita walked across the room to him, "Nerd gets suspicious over a comic book character's death, no if he knows anything about this, he'll blab to Percy for sure."

"Great, lets kill him," Owen stood with a start.

"What?" Both Michael and Nikita demanded in unison, expressions of annoyance and frustration displayed across their faces.

Owen glanced between the couple and Alex, who had a questioning look as well, "Oh c'mon! We've all worked for a secret black ops agency and THAT suggestion shocks you?"

"We're not going to kill him," Nikita firmly stated, "He may be... irritating, but unlike Percy, we don't waste life."

As she spoke these words, Michael studied her carefully. She was very good at making people believe every word that spilled from her lips. Sure she prefers to preserve life whenever possible, but he knew the legitimate reason behind her impeding Owen's ideas- She liked Birkoff. Next to himself, the one she "affectionately" nicknamed "Nerd" was the one Nikita was closest to within her time behind Division walls. It entertained him that she tried to brush it off as simply business and humanitarian in front of the others. Owen snapped Michael out of his pondering as he spoke in defense of his intentions again.

"But Percy without his top techgeek? He'll be screwed! Much easier for us to infiltrate when the time comes."

"He has a point," Alex reluctantly added, coming closer towards the other three, "Without Birkoff, Division is vulnerable."

"See? Even Shortie agrees with me!"

Alex's head snapped up to look at Owen who couldn't resist the smile that creeped across his lips as her eyes were penetrating him with daggers, "Don't ever call me Shortie."

"Focus," Nikita directed them back to the original topic, "Its not a bad thought getting Birkoff away from Percy permanently, but we're NOT going to kill him."

"What did you have in mind?" Alex asked her mentor, her hands resting on her hips.

"Bait and hook," Michael answered, locking eyes with Nikita who matched his smirk, both mentally preparing the next excursion in their heads.

"Huh?" Alex was perplexed and judging by facial expression on Owen's face, he felt the same; Nikita answered.

"Set up Birkoff, grab him..."

"Ideally get him on board Team Nikita."

"I has to be clean though."

"Ofcourse, any trace of this back to Percy, the missions shot."

"And consdiering this would be the third time I grabbed him, so would Birkoff."

"Nah, he'd have to go through Amanda but..."

"Percy won't sacrafice one of his most valuable assets, right."

"Not with the black boxes resurfacing."

"And if Birkoff switched sides..."

"We'd have more in depth access without even trying."

"But its also gotta be quick and soon."

"Exactly, if we prolong it, we have a lower success rate."

"Birkoff's not going to be easy..."

It was then when Michael and Nikita caught sight of Owen and Alex staring wide eyed.

"What?" Michael demanded, confused by the unneccesary halt in planning.

"How do you guys do that?" The youngest of the agents in the room inquired in wonder. She knew Michael and Nikita were close, and obviously worked well together (they saved her from Vlad for one example), but seeing them in action was still shocking.

"Natural skill, I guess," Nikita's lips twitched back into a smirk, her sparkling eyes trained on Michael's.

"It's a... special talent," He added and Owen nudged Alex, immitating a gagging action and she couldn't decide whether to scowl or laugh so she ignored him completely.

"Alright so Owen and I-" Nikita had barely begun her sentence when Michael cut her off.

"Owen?"

"Yes, Owen and I will handle the Birkoff."

"Considering I could bait Birkoff easily and help him see reason, why would Owen accompany you?" He was clearly irritated by this change of events. He didn't trust Owen to begin with, let alone on a mission that HE should be on with Nikita. The couple were locked in another staring contest, realizing this was going to be another battle.

"Michael, if something goes wrong, Birkoff will tell Percy about your involvement and you'll be dead." A shot of pain pierced through Michael's heart as he dtected the anguish in Nikita's voice. However, he voyaged on, dtermined to sway her opinions.

"Nothing will happen; WE will be successful, like always." This sentiment caused a small smile to form on Nikita's face. She thought of their missions in the past, and while they were for Division, she disregarded that detail and remembered their amazing teamwork and unbeatable strategies; They were reasons if any two man ops arose, Percy always assigned Michael and Nikita to it. Even recently in Ubekistan and while saving Alex from Vlad, they proved that they worked masterfully as one. But the moment passed and relaity hit her once again from all the repercussions of Michael going on this particular mission with her, the number one being death.

"You can't guarantee Birkoff's reaction and it's not worth risking your-"

"I've risked my life many times in the past," He pointed out quickly, "Dealing with Birkoff yammering about Shadownet daily is a risk that I may shoot myself." Nikita, once more, allowed a reluctant smile to show.

"What the hell is a Shadownet?" But Owen's question was ignored by the couple who kept their eyes firmly on the eahcother.

"It's not just you to worry about, if something happened to you Alex would be helpless inside Division."

Alex was swift to chime in when her name was mentioned, "Nikita, we have to do what's best for-"

"Whats best is that no one here dies," She stated, but Michael rolled his eyes.

"Listen I'll call Birkoff, have him meet me somewhere, we'll hold him up and be done with it. Are you loaded?" Nikita cocked her head to the side in bewilderment.

"Have you been ignoring everything I've said... again?"

"Alright, if you're not, I have mine and I doubt we'll have to worry about using any on Birkoff anyway," He grabbed her hand, tugging on her hand, but her refusal to move was evident. He turned to face her, "Do you want to waste time arguing when we could be recruiting Birkoff and digging into those boxes?"

Nikita was pissed; Every muscle in her body was tense with anger. He was so smug, assuming she'd follow in suit with whatever he wanted to do. He was blantently disocunting his own safety and others and expected her to agree? She was not going to lose him, not after she had just got him back.

But suddenly his hand squeezed hers, sending a feeling of secruity though her. His eyes were boreing into hers and her doubts about this situation were beginning to fade, his cruel intention. She sighed and squeezed his hand (much harder than his original one), clearly unhappy but willing to throw herself into this mess.

"Fine, but we'll do this MY way," She emphasized and he smirked, reveling in his victory.

Owen leaned over to Alex and whispered, "Since when does he call the shots?"

Overhearing this, Nikita shook her head, "Good question," she agreed while being yanked out the door.

-  
(A/N: End of chapter 3! How are you guys liking it? Still digging it? Not liking it? We're starting to see new things develop which will play big roles in the next few chapters and we'll have other characters (besides Birkoff) enter the picture and YES they are already on the canvas on the real show. So theres some 'spoilers' for you guys LOL. So def. read and review, tell me your thoughts and maybe even what YOU want to happen. :D)  



	4. Opening Up

(A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing either on here or on Twitter guys, I really appreciate it! Oh by the way, I forgot to mention this last time, Owen called Alex "Shortie" because Devon Sawa (Owen) is 6' and Lyndsy Fonseca (Alex) is 5'5. So there some pointless trivia for you lol)

"I'll call Birkoff, order him to come to my apartment, and won't let him leave until he sees reason," Michael explained as he pulled the car out onto the road. From the passenger seat, Nikita seemed to be pondering this words.

"We could do that or..."

"Always an 'or'," He mumbled, glancing at her as she cocked her head to the side. "Fine," He sighed and looked at her again, this time a smirk on his lips, "I'm pretty sure what weapons would be effective on him."

His suggestive tone referencing to their planning in Ubekistan made Nikita smile. Michael saw her grin, and his quickly matched. It was unbelievable even in the face of precarious situations, they had an overwhelming calming effect on eachother; It was one of the reasons they made a great team.

"Nerd wishes he could be that lucky," They both chuckled, but regained focus on the task at hand, "Call Birkoff, have him come to your apartment like you said, but act like its a ... normal, social call. I'll pretend I was following him, bust in, we'll fight, I'll fake knocking you out, and I'll get Birkoff to switch sides."

"Any excuse to spear with me, huh?"

"Yes I actively look to fight you" She said, sarcasm dripping from her voice and he shrugged, a smirk still plastered to his lips.

"So when you tried to chocke me in the sauna?"

"I had no idea that was you!"

"But you enjoyed it," He pointed out and now it was Nikita's turn to shrug her small shouldars.

"I enjoyed fighting WITH you; We make a pretty good team."

"We make a GREAT team," He corrected firmly, "Which is why we work together and do it my way."

"Michael," Nikita groaned, she should have known that he didn't listen when she specifically said "We do it my way", back at the lair, "We do it that way, you could end up with a magazine emptied into you; I am not taking that risk."

Michael turned his head and locked eyes with her; He saw a familiar plead in her eyes. It was one that she's stared at him with so many times before, and every time it broke his heart. He ignored it in Ubekistan in the interest of his revenge, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse it now. He understood that she was already concerned with him posing in Division, directly under Percy's thumb. He couldn't force her to go along with his plan, too; He could never force Nikita to do antyhing.  
"Alright we'll do it your way," He conceeded, then proceeding to place his Blue Tooth device in and dialing Birkoff, avoiding Nikita's triumphant smirk.

"Yo!" Birkoff greeted into Michael's ear and he rolled his eyes.

"Birkoff, I need you to come over to my apartment- now."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'? Just do it!"

"How do you know I'm not busy right now?"

"I'm sure the website of Swedish girls will be there when you get back; I'm having problems with my secruity system and since Percy insisted you handle all Division secruity-"

"I could just do it from here; I don't do house calls."

"Birkoff I want this done in person and done right. I don't want to have to tell Percy-"

"Fine, whatever! You don't need to sic the wolves on me; I'll be there, but there better be a Red Bull waiting for me."

And with that Michael disconnected, a proud smirk stretching across his lips, "He's on his way."

He pulled up alongside a curb adjacent to his apartment building and Nikita nodded dutifully, "I'll wait a few minutes before coming in, so good luck keeping him entertained."

"Just don't take longer than neccesary," He warned playfully, but she could sense he was being serious. She resisted laughing outwardly, she knew that Birkoff's personality traits tend to irk Michael, so the fact that he had to preoccupy the technology genius was pretty comical.

However, the light mood was thrawted when she began reassessing everything in her mind. Looking down at her hands, she whispered in a low voice, "Michael, what if this doesn't work?"

Nikita was hardly a pessimist, even less so a vulnerable person. She didn't doubt plans, she simply powered forward and manipulated whatever situation she was in to her advantage. But things were different now; It was no longer only her life on the line. Alex was deeper in Division now, putting her in more danger if something were to happen (the kill chip was still a present issue as well), Owen had returned and was already a loose cannon to being with, and most importantly, Michael, who would be the first to die if he was discovered to be Nikita's partner.

Logically, her plan was set to be free of consequences, but logic didn't come into play when concerning people Nikita cared for. The slightest mishap could result in her losing someone she loved, and she couldn't handle that; Even the strongest people had their weaknesses.

Michael faced her, compassion in his eyes. He knew exactly how she felt with how complicated things were becoming. If he lost her, he'd die inside. She brought him back to life after losing his family, she revived his heart to love again. Losing her, would be losing the biggest piece of himself, the best piece. But she was Nikita; She was a badass that didn't allow things to keep her down for long, and he loved that about her, so he was determined to assure her.

"It will work because we're doing it together," Nikita smirked, he's always been confident in her abilities (especially if they were working together), "And if Birkoff doesn't take the bait, knock him out and get out there."

"I thought we weren't going to let him go til he saw reason," She teased on his words from earlier, reminding him how ridiculous his plan had sounded.

He gave her a look coupled with a matching smirk, "You know you're not as mysterious as some may think." This was a swing in subject and Nikita was confused by where he was taking this comment. "You heard me," He continued, "I know the real reason why you were so defensive when the cleaner-"

"Owen," Nikita corrected pointedly, but he rolled his eyes in response.

"When he suggested we kill Birkoff; You like him,"

"Michael," She groaned in aggrivation and he couldn't resist a smile.

"Nikita I was there throughout your entire time during Division..."

"That was you?"

"I know no matter how much you two bickered, you and Birkoff were close."

"If we're going to analyze every relationship I had within Division, we'll be here all night on ours alone and we have a job to get done, so you need to get in there," She explained, her eyes wandering the streets for any sign of Birkoff, but Michael caught her offguard by leaning across the seat and pressing a passionate kiss on her lips.

When they finally seperated, Nikita had a teasing smile on her now swollen lips, "You ready to get your ass kicked again?"

"Well at least this time I won't end up shot."

"You never know," She purred, leaning in closer so her lips tickled his seductively, "Sucks to be you."

She laughed and retracted backwards, but his hand flew up and caught her face, reeling her back in. He kissed her deeply until oxygen was completely unavailable.

"No it doesn't," He mumbled, touching his forehead to hers, before exiting the vehicle.

Meanwhile, back at the lair, Alex was staring out one of the large windows into the ending sunset. She hated not being able to be of assistance to Nikita, but until she could be, she wasn't going to jeopardize her mentors' mission.

"So whats your story?" A voice was heard and up until then, Alex had forgottenn Owen was still present.

"What?" She asked, turning to the former Guardian.

"Well, you didn't exactly get messed up in this whole thing for no reason."

"Maybe I'm just that crazy," Alex retorted, a edge of coldness in her voice. She was never comfortable opening up, all of her training with Nikita had been based on burying her difficult, mainly so Division could never uncover it.

"Trust me," He chuckled softly, keeping his eyes on hers, "I've seen crazy and you're far from it."

Alex looked away, but her ears remained intuned to his strong voive, "You know we're always trained to never trust anyone, but it's actually easier to open up to strangers. Its one of the reasons bartenders make great tips." His attempt to make her smile wasn't completely futile as a tiny grin involuntarily rolled across her lips. However, when it eventually disapated, Owen stared down at the floor, speaking again, "Her name was Emily." He spoke so softly, Alex wondered if he had really sait it.

"What?" She repeated like before and a sad smile came to his face.

"Emily, she was my girlfriend," He paused for a moment, releasing a delicate puff of laughter, "Actually I was thinking about proposing to her, browsed some of those stupid jewelry stores, you know with the sayings 'A diamond is forever' in the window."

Alex was now staring at him, watching as he kept his head down when talking, almost as if he glanced up, he'd reveal his true emotion; She already know his sadness though, through the pained tone in his voice.

"What happened?" She cautiously asked post another pregnant pause.

"Division killed her," He sharply stated, startling the fellow 'Team Nikita' member in his presence when he lifted his head, anger in his eyes, "Point blank. In front of me."

Alex's stomach clenched; She'd known something big would've had to happen to influence Owen's escape, but Nikita refused to disclose specifics, she now knew why. Alex empathized with Owen. Grief intiated by Division was certainly not new to her, but it was upsetting to see from the outside someone else dealing with it.

"I'm so sorry," She remarked with genuine compassion and Owen looked at her, his eyes softening.

"Thanks Shortie, but sorry never heals the hurt, does it?"

Without blinking, she agreed, "No it doesn't."

"Yeah after it happened," He fastened his eyes on the ground, "I would've been dead multiple times if it hadn't been for your mentor."

Alex smiled to herself, recounting a sense of familarity, as he continued, "Damn Nikita's stubborn, but she saved my life."

"I know exactly what you mean," She added wistfully, staring at some random point in the distance. Owen glanced up, reversing their roles since he was now observing her as she finished her sentiment, "But she didn't just save my life, she saved my soul."

Owen smiled, not one of sadness, but one of contentment and pride, something he hadn't done in ages. Their eyes met, her's silently questioning why his lips were twitched upward.

"I told you it's easier to open up to strangers."

"You're not a stranger."


	5. Nerd Finds Out

(A/N: I am SO diissappointed for not paying more attention to this fic! It is my favorite one to write and I love it and have SO many ideas for the future of it, so I will DEF. try to update more I promise! XD)

Michael glanced around his apartment, he felt as if it had been ages since he'd been in the luxury loft Division had set up for him. Most nights he spent with Nikita, the lair had become his home if only for the woman who occupied it. Their careful rigging of his tracker and Nikita's nifty signal jammer had assured their safety to spend the nights with one another. Dropping his keys on the granite counter top, he moved to the stainless steel (and sparcely filled) refridgerator, and retrieved a beer. It wasn't long after he twisted the top off the bottle that a rapid tapping came to his door.

"Hurry up Nikita," He groaned, before manuevering to the entrance and opening it to reveal Birkoff, already ranting.

"I don't understand why you and Percy cannot move into the 21st century! I am not your personal ser..." Birkoff sped past Michael, who drowned out his collegue's voice by texting Alex to update her on the circumstances and remind her and Owen to remain at their post; He was afraid if he texted Nikita, it would derail her barging in to the apartment. "Mike!" He heard, snapping him out of his peaceful avoidance.

Michael shoved his cellular device into his pants pocket and Birkoff rolled his eyes, "Thanks for pulling yourself away from your Blackberry for a few minutes," He sneered, tapping into his boss's computer system. As the tech nerd adjusted his glasses, he mumbled a bitter, "My genius is so not appreciated as it should be."

Michael's hand involuntarily reached in the direction of his holder and realizing his action he simply clenched his teeth, walking towards Birkoff. "So what's going on?" He inquired, leaning over his co-worker's shouldar, staring at the screen.

"What's going on is nothing except you invading my personal space and dude, no offense, you could use a tic tac," Birkoff replied with his usual snarkiness, and at that moment Michael had never seen a sweeter sight than the door busting open. Nikita, gun positioned, was standing in the doorframe.

Masking a grin, he quickly transformed into "Division" mode and withdrew his own pistol, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Nikita couldn't resist a smirk at the words he spat, she'd have to make a mental note to compliment him on his acting among other qualities later. For now, she needed to focus, and reverse herself back to the state if mind she'd be in if this were set less than a year ago. "Well, apparently, Nerd over there can't make any tracker unhackable."

Niki, I thought we talked about the N word," Birkoff groaned, swivelling around in the office chair to face the rogue agent.

"If I were you, I'd worry more about your teeth and less about your nickname," She shot at him, knowing this would make him re-evaluate before speaking again, gracing her and Michael with an ample amount of time to perform, "Both of you, back away from the computer- gun on the ground."

Michael was about to throw back a retort, gripping his pistol tighter for effect, when Birkoff unexpectantly interrupted.

"Alright Mr. and Mrs. Smith, its just the three of us, we don't have to do the whole-"

"Shut up Birkoff!" Michael and Nikita unanimously and unintentionally exclaimed, which caused the third wheeler to chortle.

"Ah, just like old times," A wistful expression glazed over his face as he looked at the two agents and it momentarily threw the couple, and Birkoff responded to their blank expressions, "You guys can't honestly expect me to believe you don't remember the good ol' days. You know, me in the van, Niki kicking ass, Michael doing something in the middle. Then you'd make snide comments towards me and stare at eachother like two dopey teenagers. Damn that was fun."

Michael and Nikita suppressed smiles, each recalling those memories in their past fondly; Niether had anticipated Birkoff to orchestrate a walk down memory lane, therefore, we less than prepared for how they preceeded. Mentally the couple exchanged ideas through their eyes, if the tech savy Division worker was this nostalgic , it could be easy to convince him to switch sides without the hassle of coersion.

However, he interjected once again, this time gloomily, "But that was before Niki split and Mike, man, after that he's been more depressing than usual."

At this, Nikita gave her partner a questioning look, failing to disguise her amusement and Michael grunted, avoiding her eyes, "Thats enough Birkoff."

"Its not like she hasn't been feeling the same!" Michael's coworker exclaimed, causing Nikita's head to snap in his direction, "I mean everyone knew she was as stupidly in love with you as you were with her. And since she has yet to blow your head off, my suprior intelligence tells me she feels the same." Nikita felt her cheeks inflame, and Michael couldn't help but enjoy the red tint to her face. Meanwhile, Birkoff glanced between the pair and smirked proudly, "You're both welcome," Returning his attention to the computer monitor and muttering, "Dr. Phil my ass."

With Birkoff's back to them, Michael and Nikita were silent, each toying with what to do next. She tipped her head subtley towards Birkoff's silhouette.

"You're call," Michael mouthed in response and she weighed her options, before biting her lip and dropping her gun; Michael followed in suit. They each walked up on either side of Birkoff, Nikita leaning backwards against the desk the computer sat on's edge to face her favorite Nerd. Birkoff's eyes lifted as he felt the heaviness of stares upon him.

"What's going on?" He asked apprehensively, glancing between the agents.

"Birkoff-" nikita, prepared for her best persuasive speech began, but her subject cut her off.

"Now you're really freaking me out- you never use my real name."

"Fine, Nerd," She smirked emphasizing the nickname, "How would you like to stop kissing Percy's ass and do some good once?"

Birkoff's eyes shot to Michael, swallowing hard and feeling beads of sweat start to form on him, "I.. I.. told you before Niki, I am VERY loyal to Division," The tone was clearly forced, "You're nuts!"

"I don't think she is," Michael grinned, taking a moment to gaze at his woman, before refocusing his attention on Birkoff, whose bewilderment was illustrated through his shocked expression.

"Michael, what the f-" But swuddenly, Birkoff's mind put two and two together and he began revolving his head back and forth to look at each agent, mouth agape.

"Surprise Nerd."


	6. Open Ended Questions

(A/N: Did ya'll watch "Betrayls"? HOLY CRAP! If you follow me on Twitter you know all my in depth opinions for it but in short: Alex needs another Amanda bitch slap, POOR MICHAEL, BAMF Nikita blew me away AGAIN, and Mikita is the most adorable and epic thing in the universe. LOL. Yes I know reasonably Alex didn't really kill Nikita, but still I don't like her attitude LOL. But this fic doesn't go off of the recent episodes so ofcourse I'm going to write for Alex through the characteristics of hers I DO like. This is a short-er update. Kind of a transition chap. to much for interesting stuff ;) Thank you to all who reviewed it means alot to me!)

"Russian royalty, eh?" Owen inquired as he threw Alex a beer after coming from Nikita's kitchen which was stocked with a questionable amount of vegetables and alcoholic beverages.

"Metaphorically, yes, and I'm 19," Alex pointedly stated, holding up the bottle, making Owen chuckle when taking a seat across from hers.

"Don't worry, mom and dad aren't home."

She stared at the drink for a moment before seeting it on the floor next to her chair. Owen was perplexed by the action, but she simply shrugged, "Being a former drug addict, I usually try and stay away from alcohol."

"Trigger?"

"Nah, not really. I never drank much- just did everything else," A small snort erupted from her, pondering on times she had pushed from her mind. He smiled; the sound of laughter hadn't made him do that in awhile. She looked into his deep eyes from across the short distance, "But that was a long time ago."

"Can't change the past, but at least you're being cautious."

Alex bitterly scoffed, "Is this where you commend me on being so responsible or something?"

Owen in return laughed, "Shortie you really need to learn to have some fun."

"Alittle hard to do when you're a former Russian heiress, sex slave, druggie, and now assassin slash double agent."

"Never stopped me, and my accent was a bitch to lose," He jested with a wink and Alex involuntarily felt her lips tug upwards in a fleeting smile. He held up his own opened bottle, tipping it towards her in a "cheers" gesture. However he then set the bottle, still full of its undrank liquid on the floor.

Alex's brow furrowed, she eyed him as he set up, "What are you doing?"

"Its no fun to drink alone," Owen stated and her eyes softened, biting her lower lip, trying to think of an appropriate response to the gesture.

"Thanks," was all she could really come up with and it seemed to be more than acceptable since he humbly shook it off with a "Nothing to thank me for."

Time was passing at a snail speed pace with no updates from Michael, nor Nikita, since his last text about Birkoff being at the apartment. Alex sighed, and glanced out the window, Owen soon breaking the silence in the room yet again.

"Well since we can't get drunk, and are ordered to remain in the Nikita headquarters here," Alex turned her head to look at him, "Got any ideas how we can have some fun?"

/  
"So are you on our side or not?" Nikita demanded, post her and Michael explaining the series of events that had recently occured to a flabberghasted and wide-eyed Birkoff; He cringed at her slightly more threatening tone of voice.

"What she means," Michael groaned, sending a glare to his aggressive partner, "What are your thoughts?" In all honesty, it was amusing to Michael for his girlfriend and himself's roles to be reversed. He was typically the more impatient one, while she remained calm, but the fact of the matter was, with Birkoff that was a difficult task.

"I think," The tech nerd began dazed, "I entered a freaky parallel universe. Seriously, the Twilight Zone would be confused it they were in this position," The couple rolled their eyes, "So if I say 'no', what happens? Do you kill me? Because thats low, especially for you Niki!"

"Low for 'Niki'? Not for me?" Michael couldn't resist commenting, folding his arms across his chest and creasing his brow, while Nikita pointed a warning finger at him before chiming in.

"Watch it with the nickname."

"Well Mike, I just don't feel as strong a connection with you as I do with Niki."

Nikita snorted, "Yeah 'Mike', you guys don't have as strong of a connection."

"Not funny," Michael directed quickly to his girlfriend, then refocusing on Birkoff, "We will not kill you- unless we need to."

"But really Nerd is it THAT difficult of a choice?" She winked seductively at him, causing his to smirk proudly; Michael, however, was less than entertained by the gesture.

"Enough. Giving him false ideas only makes him nuttier!"

"Hey!" Birkoff excalimed with chagrin dripping from his voice, "I resent that and not a way to lure me to your side, good thing you're not a salesman."

"Fine, how about this: join us or get a bullet between the eyes," Michael threatened, menacingly stalking closer to Birkoff, who back his seat up with every step. Nikita scoffed, and went up to Michael, putting a hand on his shouldar to stop him.

"What he means," Imitating her beau from earlier, "You can work with us and be apart of taking down your evil, saddistic, dictator of a boss.. or die."

"So much for 'we're not gonna kill you'."

"Things change."

"What a record of indescisiveness."

"Michael's right, things change- but Percy doesn't. He'll always treat you like garbage and dispose of you whenever it fits HIS needs."

"Like the two of you are threatening to do?"

"Oh relax Nerd, I wouldn't actually kill you. We have too much fun together," She rolled her eyes, and Birkoff scowled.

"That sounded sarcastic Niki, that hurts," He put a fist over his chest in mock pain and Nikita let a lazy smirk roll across her lips.

"Alright you two," Michael started, interrupting the banter between the former agents, "We don't have a whole lot of time, so can we speed this up?"

"Depends on Ner-"

"You don't have to say it again! I'm in, I'm in," However, despite his supprotive declaration, the couple gave him a skeptical stare. Throwing his arms up, he sighed exhaustedly, "What now Dick and Jane?"

"Birkoff, you can't switch sides after this," Michael explained in a stern tone, making his co-worker slap his palm against his forehead, "Once you are on our side, there's no going back. If you told Percy, there would be serious consequences that I'm positive you would not want resting on your weak shouldars."

"Don't you think I know that? And what are you talking about weak shouldars?"

Michael smirked, a unexplicable joy at Birkoff's dissatisfaction with his insult. Nikita nudged him lightly, a smile of her own gracing her lips.

"Bottom line: I don't want to be the reason you two get captured. In fact, I would've joined Niki the first time she kidnapped me if I'd known she'd be this successful," The computer genius laughing at the sudden glare he received from the femme fatale, "Underestimation is one of your greatest advantages, girl."

"Thanks Nerd, if you had any physical abilities, I'd say the same about you."

"Woah! I have moves!"

"She doesn't mean at Dance Dance Revolution," Michael chimed in with aroogrance, recieving a wink of approval yet again from the woman beside him. Meanwhile Birkoff frowned momentarily.

"You two really are perfect for eachother; You're just lucky I like you guys," He scoffed, causing the pair to smile, "So since I'm all 'Rah Rah Team Nikita!', what now?"


	7. Sparring and Secrets

"Harder!" Alex demanded in staggered breath, beads of sweat sticking to her forehead. Owen's heavy breathing delayed his response, but he eventually gave into her desire. "Faster! C'mon, faster!" His speed heightened and she moaned as a rush of pain struck her and they hit the ground. A pleasurable grin swept across her lips as she flipped their bodies so hers was now covering his.

He groaned, his head making contact with the cold floor, and his body trapped by Alex's legs on either side, straddling his hips. "You have some pretty good moves," He commented, focusing on catching his breath, "But your mentor is still better."

"I know, I've done it with her tons of times; how do you think I got this good?" Suddenly a strangled cough cut the moment and Alex rolled off the guardian, both seeing Michael, Nikita, and Birkoff standing below the arch of the entryway. "Oh yay! It worked!" Alex pointed out, using one hand to gesture towards the four-eyed newcomer, while wiping her persperated forehead with the other. Owen stood to his feet, offering a hand to his floormate.

"Two pretty people rolling around on the floor? Wow, its like a diet version of these two," The tech geek nodded back to Michael and Nikita, walking further into the lair, "Same facade, but none of the flavor."

"We were sparing!" Alex put her hands on her hips, her accusitory tone not effecting Birkoff who merely scoffed.

"Uh huh, thats what 'Mikita' said too."

"Only you would think of that," Nikita rolled her eyes, following Michael, and sitting upon his lap after he sat in one of the room's chairs. Owen left in the direction of the kitchen as the rest of the gang took seats in the same vecinity.

"Ignore him," Michael advised the group, his arm snaking around his girlfriend's waist and resting on her thigh.

"Already done," Owen commented, re-entering the room, two bottled waters in hand, and he tossed one to Alex.

"What a nice, welcoming committee," Birkoff cracked, "Who's this dude anyway? I know you from somewhere-"

"Owen Elliot," Michael practically groaned, recieving a glare from the one he mentioned.

Realization hit Birkoff not long after, "Woah! The Elliot- Guardian guy who almost got Nikita gunned down?" He turned to the sandy haired rogue agent, "And Mike hasn't killed you yet?"

"He's been put on orders not to," Owen responded, a smirk geared toward Nikita's beau.

"Doesn't mean I'll listen," Michael growled causing his opponent to raise his eye brows.

Birkoff interrupted the tense exchange prior to Owen's retort, "So this is your bat cave, Niki?"

"If we were in a comic book, yes," She answered with sarcasm dripping from her voice, after, recieving an air high five from Alex across the room and Michael snickering in her ear.

"I'll remember that Niki."

"I'll stock the fridge with Red Bull and you'll forget all about it, Nerd." The room erupted in laughter as the newest double agent shrugged in reluctant agreement.

"So since Birkoff's with us, whats the plan sensei?" A;ex asked was the riot had died down a bit.

Nikita and Michael looked at one another, him taking the reigns first on the answer, "Like you and I," He directed to Alex, "He'll pose within Division until the time is right."

"However, he'll be gaining more inside information so both Michael, and you, Alex, will have to have his back."

"We'll reconviene ere, ideally tomorrow, but we'll be in touch about exact times; we'll be going over a few ops Percy has in the works."

"Yes, they did this five years ago and yes, it was just as cutesy annoying," Birkoff informed Owen and Alex, before turning to see Nikita's gun aimed at him, "Jeez! Calm down trigger finger, you guys are cutesy in a bad ass way! Like Bonnie and Clyde!" His plea worked as his friend reholstered her weapon, an amused smile on her face.

"Its late," She noted, stifiling a yawn, "Nerd, Alex you should get home."

"What about Mi-" But Alex was halted by obvious stares from the group, smirks masking their lips. She smiled and nodded her head, "Got it."

"Its best not to think of their sexual escapades," Birkoff advised, walking alongside the young agent in the direction of the door.

"At least we have them," Michael called out , throughly enjoying the scowl on his co-worker's face. Owen couldn't restrain his loud chuckle, causing him to be the recipient of the tech genius's glares.

"At least I have a place to live, where are you staying? A park bench?"

"Here," Nikita answered, then rolling her eyes at Michael's expression of irritation and dismay, "He's on the run from Division, where do YOU think he should stay?" He pondered the ideas, but Nikita took advantage of his silence, "Exactly. He can stay down here on the cot, we'll stay upstairs."

"You better hope for your sake," Birkoff said to Owen, "Niki does laundy regularly." Alex smacked him on the back of the head, her mentor grinning proudly.

Owen glanced at the cot with apprehension, but shrugged, "I've already been naked on it so-"

"Excuse me?" Michael snapped, while Nikita glowered at the former cleaner, her lips pursed tightly in anger.

"Time to go grasshopper!" Birkoff hastily announced, pushing Alex and him out of the lair's exit.

"What the he-"

"Goodnight Owen!" Nikita growled through clenched teeth. She grabbed Michael's hand and yanked him up the stairs without another word.

/  
Once the couple was out of sight, Owen crept into the kitchen, retrieving a disposable cell phone from his pants pocket. After dialing the intended number, he smirked hearing the greeting.

"Hello to you too. Could you be anymore impatient?... I know, man... Yeah, I'm here... How are you doing?... Well hang in there, we'll get this settled soon... I don't know when I'll be able to talk to her about, but no, she doesn't suspect anything... Yeah well for the record, I still think this plan sucks... I have to go, I probably won't be able to call you for a few days.. Alright, I get it."

He set the phone on the counter top, quietly smashing it under his fist and dumping it into the garbage disposal.

/  
"Michael, its not what you think," Nikita began to rationalize, upon her and her beau entering the grand, master bedroom- the only one in the mansion to have a pre-existing bed. Michael walked deeper into the space, distancing himself from her.

He circled around, meeting her gaze, and folding his arms over his chest, " I could be thinking a lot of reasons why a rogue guardian would be naked on the cot we happened to... sleep on. Care to venture a guess of which one I have in mind?"

"Michael, it wasn't ANYTHING like what you and I have done on that mattress."

"So it was different? Better?"

"Stop it. Owen and I were NEVER together in ANY capacity," She approached him carefully, relieved he didn't flinch from the motion, "After Percy shot at us on the boat..." Michael grimaced, Division's head honcho describing Nikita's "death" piercing his memory, "... Owen was shot, he had the crap beaten out of him by Roan, he could barely muster the strength to swim. I brought him back here to make sure he got better; I couldn't leave him to die."

Michael nodded soberly, finally uncrossing his arms. As much as he cursed her beautiful, caring heart, it was one of the things he loved most about her. Nikita watched him relax his stern stance and smiled. "I'm sorry," He mumbled, closing the gap between them by wrapping his strong arms around her slender figure and reeling her into him.

"You don't have to apologize; I think you're sexy when you're jealous."

"Not jealous, just... overprotective," He corrected, Nikita giggling and her brown eyes rolling.

"Uh huh, overprotective. Well you don't need to protect me, I can do that myself."

"I know," Michael whispered, locking their eyes, "But I'm not going to stop being your back up."

"You're not back up; We're a team."

Not needing any more words than that, the two kissed and it didn't take long for the lip lock to morph intofervent passion. Lifting her up, Micheal carried Nikita to the king sized bed. Falling onto the mattress, he retracted, a playful gleam in his eyes, "You've had this bed up here the whole time? Any reason we haven't put it to use?"

Her lips twinged into a smirk, leaning up, brushing her lips to his briefly. His arousal was immediate feeling her breath combing his face. "Less space isn't always a bad thing," She murmured and his smirk began to match hers before he captured her lips again.

/  
Alex ran home to her apartment in record time, hope and happiness driving her speed; they were two emotions she had not experienced for a long period of time and most likely haven't felt since her parents' death. However now, everything had changed. She was no longer alone, nor was it just her and Nikita on their own against an impossible feat. They had a team, one that consisted of some extremely valuable people and therefore they were that much closer to their "impossible" goal of bringing down Division.

Reaching for her key, it slipped from her hand prematurely, causing an overjubulant Alex to curse beneath her breath. She was startled by the creak of a door, but relieved when it was Nathan emerging fro his apartment.

"Hey stranger," He greeted with his typical warm smile that had originally attracted Alex to him when they first met.

Returning his grin, she reclaimed her key, "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah, are you kidding?" He walked across the width of the hallway towards her, "Its barely midnight, you forget I'm a club DJ for a living."

"Oh how could I forget?" She teased with a chortle, opening the door and gesturing her boyfriend inside.

"You seem enthusiastic tonight," He observed, but before the door was completely shut, he was being pulled down to Alex's level and kissed passionately. "Wow," He stumbled over words to describe the unpredicted embrace, "So I was right before? Good night?"

"Amazing night," Alex sighed contently, pecking him quickly again and then detaching herself. He followed her as she strutted to the couch , both taking a seat side by side on the sofa. Nathan instinctively intertwined their fingers.

"Tell me about it," He urged, but the caring sentiment made Alex deflate.

She bit her lip anxiously, "I would but," She struggled with an appropriate lie to cure Nathan's confusion at her withdrawl, "Lets just say my company acquired a few new assests so we're closer to reaching our targeted achievement."

He seemed satisfied with that answer and squeezed her hand supportively, "Congradualtions! Thats awesome."

His girlfriend was touched, but a mischevious look stole her face, "Wanna help me celebrate?"

Needless to say, her suggestive question did not warrant a repeat.

/  
It was early the next morning when Nathan heard his phone begin to ring. Glancing a a peacefully sleeping Alex beside him, he discreetly got out of bed, simultaneously pulling on his pants and answering his phone.

"Hello?" He hissed, exiting Alex's apartment and moving into the hallway, "You said you wouldn't call for awhile!... I know, but listen, I'm closer than either of us thought I would be... Jeez don't you have you're own rogue agent to deal with?... Fine." And his call ended. 


	8. Taking A Vacation Kind of

Nikita awoke to a foreign aroma wafting through the air of her home. Her arm outstretched, the empty space beside her an unsuprising welcome. She got up, quickly dressing, and making her way down the stairs.

"Whats going on?" She found herself asking aloud before she even reached the bottom of the steps. Owen was sitting on a chair in the open living area, watching television, and scarfing down what appeared to be a plate of freshly made food.

"Morning!" The sandy haired agent greeted between bites. Nikita blinked, then walked down the stairs.

"That didn't answer my question; Did you make this?" She was standing in front of him now, an accusitory finger pointed at his dish.

"Your bed buddy-"

"Have you forgotten I knocked you out yesterday?"

"Fine," He rolled his eyes, swallowing his last morsel of food, "Your gentleman collar... better?"

"Much," She replied while simultaneously kicking him in the shin, "What about Michael?"

"He made a bunch of food before he hoofed it down to Division for his daily ass kissing session."

"Would it kill you to not act like a dick?"

"It could, and wouldn't that be a shame?"

"My answer was different a few months ago," Nikita flashed a smirk, leaving the room with Owen trailing behind her. Entering the kitchen she instantly smiledviewing the pleathera of food displayed in the normally bare culinary room.

"Would've been better if it had real meat," Owen criticized from behind and Nikita responded by elbowing him hard in the gut, "Why do you have to be so violent?"

"Thats disgusting! You do realize those are defenseless animals right?"

"Its a little hard to feel bad for Wilbur when bacon tastes so good!"

Nikita threw a hostile stare at him, attempting to control her gag reflex. "Moving on," She started, creating a plate for herself, "We didn't get to discuss the black box yesterday."

"Well between you pistol whipping me and recruiting whats his name, there wasn't much time."

"We have time now- start talking. Did you find the guardian in London?"

"Little south of there," He shrugged nonchalently, mosing to the sink and washing his dish; A curious Nikita, meanwhile, perched on the counter top, eating her breakfast and keeping a suspicious eye on Owen as he continued, "In London, I managed to find out the original guardian was replaced."

"Replaced? Does that happen often?"

"Not that I knew of."

"Fine, continue," She waved off the previous inquiry, stabbing a slice of pancake with the opposite hand.

"So I got a lead on this new kid and I.. found him."

"You found him?" Nikita burst, pancake threatening to trip out of her mouth, "Did you get the box?" Finding another black box meant they were closer to bringing down Percy, that smug son of a bitch who always underestimated her. It meant that they would all be done living the nightmare that had become their lives. It meant she could finally focus on a future and not one of revenge, bullets, and anger. However, she never liked to get ahead of herself, or become overly confident- it could potentially lead to disappointing outcomes- like this would be. Owen wiped his hand with a towel and turned, an uneasy expression clouding his face. At the sight, her head tipped, obvious irritation showing, "You didn't get the box?"

"You make it sound so simple-"

"It is once you find the guardian!"

"Nikita," He groaned and she rolled her eyes, setting her dish aside on the counter, "The guardian... he's a good kid, and he's in a difficult and unique situation. But he does want to be on our side, so thats good right?"

"Our side? Are you standing here, telling me, you sat and talked life dreams with someone in charge of something that protects Percy?"

"Your loving boyfriend went through all that trouble and you don't finish?" Gesturing to the half-consumed breakfast beside her and in return, his hand got smacked.

"Do NOT change the subject. Owen, what the hell happened?"

"Its complicated; you'll understand when we get there."

"Get where?"

/  
"Whats wrong this time?" Birkoff questioned as he entered the basement shooting range at Division. Michael was there, firing his pistol, blasting holes into the paper target, one after another. "Last time I found you here you were moping over Niki's 'death'. No happy ending last night- physically or metaphorically?"

Michaelr eleased a reluctant chuckle as he lowered his weapon, his co-worker approaching him. "We're good," He answered, an unintentional grin slithering across his lips as memories of the previous night flooded him.

"Because of that little 'I got lucky' smirk, I could make a quip about not wanting to hear about you guys' relations-and trust me, I don't- but honestly? I'm happy for you both."

Michael turned to Birkoff, his eyebrows raised, "Really?"

"Yes, why is that shocking?" The nerd gave his friend a pat on the back, "I've always supported you and Niki." He entered the galley beside Nikita's beau, who laughed again.

"Support? Is that what all the inapporpriate comments over mission coms were?"

"No, that was comic relief."

"Ah," Michael mused, reloading his gun, "Well I do appreciate it, I'm sure she will too."

"Like you guys need anyones support; It was inevitable, you two being together," Birkoff expressed before shooting at the target; Two failed and the third barely pierced the paper. Finally the fifth was a total success.

"You think?" Michael asked, another smile creeping onto his face, "Nice shot."

"Look, Niki's already got you being a more polite person; you've never complimented me, even though I deserve it most of the time."

"If you do say so yourself," Michael noted.

Birkoff popped off a few more bullets and sighed, "Well I do own this place virtually, you think that'd warrant, at least, a couple 'please and thank you's."

"We bring him down," Michael nodded his head upwards, talking about Percy, "We'll all give you a big thank you."

"Oh I'm sure," Birkoff scoffed, rolling his eyes behind his specks, resuming his place next to his pal, "You and Niki will be too busy... and we're back to your sex life." He mock-gagged and Michael scowled. However before he could retort, his second Blackberry (the one that was strictly for him and Nikita) buzzed. "The Mrs.?" Birkoff jested, again recieving another heated glare from his fellow double agent.

"She needs us over there as soon as we're done here," He read, a befuddled expression written on his face, "Thats odd. We all agreed to meet, but this sounds urgent; Somethings wrong." He shoved the phone into his pocket, a mulitiude of thoughts racking his mind.

"Don't overreact, she probably just misses me; we've been seperated for a long time," Birkoff chuckled but his friend was not finding humor in the situation. The tech geek understood, and quietly excused himself from the sound-proof arena.

/  
"You're really gonna make me wait until Michael and Birkoff get here?" Alex whined, plopping herself on one of the lair's chairs. Nikita sat at the computer, studying the current screen she had pulled up.

"No use talking to her," Owen informed as he entered the living room, "What the hell are you even doing?"

"Attempting to figure out how to rectify your latest screw up... again," Nikita replied, annoyance dripping from her voice and if that didn't make her irritation evident, she refused to look at the former guardian.

"Jeez, what did you do?" Alex asked post a few snickers to which Owen simply sighed and took the seat next to her, "I've honestly, NEVER seen her this pissed."

"I'm a man of many skills."

"Hardly any good," The main rogue agent added, her attention still concentrated on the monitor.

"You can't be mad at me forever!"

"Watch me."

Before a scowling Owen could respond again, Alex interjected, "Can I PLEASE know what this is about now? What if Michael and Birkoff are wrapped up in Division work all night?"

"Michael ex-"

"Whats going on?" A new, determined tone emerged and Nikita smirked as she spun around to see Michael making his way toward her.

"Ears burning?" Michael momentarily allowed his thoughts to escape his mind hearing his love's voice and he bent down, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

"I got out as soon as I could," He announced once detached, "Birkoff should be here in an hour or so, but we can fill him in later."

"Finally! Yes, fill us in now!" Alex begged, stting up in her seat.

Her mentor's gaze shot to Owen, "You want to tell them?"

"Not really," He answered but by her raised eyebrows and crossed arms, he reluctantly accepted he had no choice in the matter. Taking in a deep breath, he stood to his feet, "Well the main point is: We're all going on vacation!" His overcheerful smile was a grievous contrast to other three's dumbfounded expressions.

"What?" The youngest of the group exclaimed, shifting stares from Owen and Nikita, who was shaking her head in disbelief; Michael stood speechless, awaiting an explanation.

"Main point meaning you skipped over everything else. This is NOT a vacation," The dark haired woman stressed, "Owen found and spoke with a guardian- and didn't get the box."

"Because he wanted to meet with you first!"

"How considerate of you to think of him!" Nikita sarcastically cracked and glanced at Michael who was fuming; Alex was stil mistified, her mouth hanging agape.

"You allowed a black box, that you could have proccurred, to slip through your fingers?" The growled words came from Michael and the opposite male cocked his head to the side.

"Save the judgement, GQ- you'll thank me later."

Michael took a few menacing steps forward, "The only thanks you'll get will be from the barrel-"

"Mchael!" His girlfriend's voice halted him, but the animosity remained between the men, "I'm pissed too, but we don't have time to keep you guys from killing eachother; We're going to be together for god knows how long, we need to work as a team."

"Wait- why do we all have to go?" Alex questioned, and Owen quickly supplied an answer.

"Because its a group effort!" Michael was suspicious of the man's excessively eager tone, but withheld his opininon; Alex didn't seem to doubt the answer, so it wasn't questioned further.

"Look, Owen, Alex, and myself will go and we'll-"

"So it'll be just you nd him?" Nikita's beau interrupted her instructions and her head rotated to look at him.

"And Alex."

"If she gets clearance to leae the country, and for an unknown purporse thats beyond a long shot."

"If she gets word I'm there, she'll be sent faster than Amanda can say Jimmy Choo." Alex shurgged, her favorite teacher's words weren't untrue.

"She'll be sent with a strike team," Michael pointed out but Nikita wasn't lacking a retort.

"She can get rid of them easily."

"What makes you think Alex will even be sent?"

"She captured me before."

"But I'm the one in charge of your capture."

"Thats worked out so far," Alex giggled and Owen high fived her while the opposite paired ignored them.

"Hopefully we can ALL be there, but thats unlikely and Owen made a good point earlier: the guardian is younger and Alex will be able to relate to him better than any of us."

"I'm supposed to trust, not only his poor judgement, but that he can protect you? The man who got you shot at before? Remember that?"

"I can protect myself, Michael; I don't know how many times I-"

"Well than if you're so sure you don't need back up, why is he going in the first place?"

"Because I know where he's located," Owen chimed in and Michael shifted his attention to him, clinching his fists at his sides.

"You've enevr heard of directions? Cooridinates?"

"OK, Michael, don't you think you're being a little hard on him?" Alex spoke up, standing up beside Owen.

It didn't take long for a three way argument to break out, various conversations and raised voices thrown about until Nikita could no longer stand it. "Enough!" Sh ehollered, silencing every member of her team, "I think we've all forgotten why we're here. We're here because we all want to brign Percy down, to save innocent people, not to stand here and yell at eachother! If we all wanted hatred and supriority we would have stayed at Division and both of you know that!" She directed to the two men, who swallowed hard, "Michael- hun, I understand you're used to being in control and trust me, Owen works my nerves too, but you need to lay off and let us work it out TOGETHER. Owen, considering you caused this specific situation, stop acting like an ass! I appreciate that you found the location of the guardian, but realize that this is NOT good right now. We all have strengths and weaknesses, its what makes us human and the opposite of everything Division is. Last night, we sat here and joked like normal friends, we need to keep that spirit or we might as well hand ourselves over to Percy and I refuse to do that!"

Angry outbursts from Nikita were a rarity so her cohorts were speechless, that or too frightened to speak. Michael made the first motion, going over to his lady lovr and enclosing her slender figure in his arms.

"I'm sorry baby," He murmured in her ear, for just her to hear. She smiled and her beau continued outloud to the rest of the group, "She's right. We need to work as a unit. Weakness from a group is a liability and we are not going to lose... Elliot, no matter how idiotic it was to allow an opprotunity to-"

"This is great apology," Owen cracked, sarcasm seeping through his tone, and Alex punched his arm.

Michael rolled his eyes, reluctnatly finishing the thought, "But like Nikita said, you found the guardian and that is commendable.

Nikita stifled a laugh, observing the pained expression on his face, leaning into him.

"Well, I can see how this is a problem, and that really is the last thing I wanted to cause coming into this team," Owen began, nodding his head as he recognized his mistakes, "And Michael really does have no reason to trust me, so I get his instincts."

There was silence for a few minutes until Alex snorted, "That was a touching moment." Nikita released a similar chortle, her protege continuing, "So since we're one big happy family again, where are we going?"

"Its not THAT bad: Swiss Alps." Conversations broke out betwene the foursome when a new voise invaded the noise.

"What'd I miss?" They all turned to see Birkoff standing under the arch in utter confusion.

"How'd you get out so early?" michael asked and Birkoff rolled his eyes.

"Sorry Mike, next time I'll try to stay locked in the big D longer and watch as teeny bopper souls slowly die."

"Don't be so dramatic. I was wondering why Percy would let two top level employees leave early."

"You expect me to explain why he does the crazy shit he does?"

"Yeah thats an impossible task for anyone, let alone Nerd," Nikita intruded on the conversation snidely and Birkoff responded by puckering his lips in her direction.

Always persistant, Michael inquired further, "Well did he say anything?"

Man all I know is he had a meeting someone and no, he didn't tell me who- shocker."

/  
At Division, Percy entered his office, already irritated by his visitor. "Talk to me," He demanded coldly, taking a seat behind his large desk while the blonde male stoof in front of him.

"Well she's getting closer to opening up to me-"

"Opening up about what?"

"I'm not sure; Nikita will probably-"

"I don't care about Nikita! Its old news that they're working together."

"So you've said, but I don't understand why I'm there than. Why are you letting her be a double agent? If you knew she was Nikita's mole before we got to know eachother, why continue with the charade?"

"You are here to be eyecandy, do you understand? To get information that will be valuable to me- NOT to question my choices. Do it again and find yourself back slumming the streets, occupying a cardboard box, and being gainfully employed by your fellow hobos, playing music for bottle caps."

"Alright, I get it- you call the shots."

"And don't forget it. You're lucky that my brother was important to me."

"You just needed someone who would do what you said, you got it- Leave my father out of it. What do I do next?"

"Well dear nephew," Percy eerily grinned, sending a shiver through Nathan as the gray haired man stood, circling the desk and coming closer to him, "We will impliment phase 3"

Nathan swallowed hard, "Yes Uncle."

/  
(A/N: I'm SOO sorry I took so long updating but hopefully this nice long chap. makes up for it! :) LOL. So yes, Team Nikita is going to the Swiss Alps, Nathan is not only working for Division but is Percy's NEPHEW! And Percy has known Alex is Nikita's mole for awhile. How? Whats going to happen? All willl be explained in further chaps! lol. Love your reviews and comments so keep 'em coming! Thank you SO much!) 


	9. Swiss Alps, Sibilings, and Surprises

"Damn! How'd you find this place?" Owen exclaimed in awe, his eyes wide from viewing the picturesque scene in front of him.

Nikita trekked through the fallen snow to stand beside him. "I have my ways," She smiled coyly and the two carried their sparse amount of luggage towards the destination.

It was the day after Team Nikita's pow wow and Owen and Nikita had arrived in the Alps a few hours ago. Driving an endless amount of hours, the former guardian was becoming increasingly annoyed at the original rogue agent's refusal to tell him where they were headed. It was then that they pulled up to an expansive cabin, isolated in the middle of no where.

Entering, the interior of the home was just as magical as the exterior; It opened into a sunken living room. Taking one step down, you were in a space that held a large, tan sectional sofa, a large, stone fireplace, and a flat screen television above said chimney.

Approaching another single step made of the gorgeous wooden flooring that ran through the entire establishment, it led into the kitchen. Unusually updated for a cabin outside of the city bounds with stainless steel appliances, black granite countertops that carried onto the broad island that had stools arranged in front of it.

A staircase took you up to an open loft area that was empty aside from a book case and a cozy looking chair. However, that wasn't the only thing on this second floor, it also occupyed two bedrooms. The third, and master, bedroom was back on the mainfloor situated to the very back of the house; there was also a bathroom on each floor.

It was a beautiful sight and Owen glanced at Nikita every time his eye cauught something new. "No, for real, did you kill someone to get this place?" He finally blurted, taking in the scenery the large windows displayed with curtains that matched the couch fabric hanging on either side, undrawn.

"They're bullet proof," Nikita pointed out, dropping her bag on the floor near the entrance. Owen turned slowly around to face her with an unreadable expression.

"If you did kill someone, it was worth it."

She couldn't resist chuckling at that and made her way to the kitchen, snatching a bottle of water from the refirdgerator, "Its called research. Oh, hey, can you get the case from the car? I forgot."

"Sure, but you have to tell me how you got this place."

"Or you won't get it?..."

"Would that work?"

"Nope," Nikita smirked and her pal rolled his eyes, begrudingly leaving to do the task asked of him. After he exited, she grabbed her bag and took it the main floor bedroom. It was a spacious room, a king bed sitting the middle of it, a reminder she'd be the only one lying it. As if the universe read her thoughts, her phone began to buzz rapidly and pulling it from her pants, she smiled seeing Michael's name on the caller ID.

"Hey, you get there alright?" Michael asked immediately after she accept thed call.

Shaking her head, a smiled rolled across her lips, "Yes, worrywart, we got here just fine. When's Alex coming?"

"Seems like we got lucky, we don't even need to tell Percy you're on the move. He's sending Alex on an op in France and sinces its a social event, I suggested I be her escort."

"Sounds familiar," Nikita mused, both her and her beau smiling on opposite sides of the line, reflecting on their past.

"Very different motives back then," He noted, and her smirk developed.

"So you finally admit you came to Russia with that in mind?"

"Nikita..." He groaned, exasperation already blazing in his voice and she laughed.

"Fine, we can talk about THOSE motives at a later date," She suggestively replied, but transitioned to the original topic, "So when's the apporximate time you'll be arriving?"

"Can't really say, but the mission isn't very difficult and its tomorrow night so..."

"So I'll see you soon."

"Thats the plan, and hopefully that means we'll be getting the box soon becau-"

Suddenly, loud noises and hollers erupted from the direction of the living room, interrupting Nikita's conversation. She groaned aloud, "I have to go."

"Whats going on?"

"Who knows these days!"

"Nikita! Be car-"

"Always," Hanging up the phone and tossing it onto the plush comforter of the bed, she withdrew her gun and slowly made her way out of the bedroom and down the short hallway. Weapon poised, she realized it was unneccesary seeing the noise was penetrating from the television. "What the hell is this?" She demanded, her aggrivation only growing as Owen turned around with a large grin.

"This place had an X-Box! Can you believe that?"

"No, because I don't know what that is! What are you doing?"

"Calm down boss lady, its a video game- a kick ass one might I add. Wanna play?"

"No I don't want to play some stupid video game! I thought you were being attacked out here or something!" Nikita snapped, holstering her glock and going to examine her case of hardware that Owen lugged in.

"I told you bringing that was a waste bringing it here, you won't need it," The former cleaner shouted over his shouldar.

"The last guardian I met was able to pin me down, while injured, with his leg; I'm not taking any chances."

"Aww, you remember."

"Not every day I stab someone in the leg."

"It is in this game! Huh, good thing you decided not to play, I'd hate to have start crying after you got your ass kicked."

Nikita rotated on her heel, glaring at her teammate, "Is that a challange?"

"Depends," Owen paused the game, turning and holding a controller out to her, "Are you gonna take it?"

/  
"YES!" Nikita yelled victoriously, leaping off the sofa, "Three games in a row!"

Owen scowled, but soon his head fell in embarassment and he tossed her controller aside, "Beginners luck."

"Three times in a row? With a new high score? Keep telling yourself that!" She chuckled and flopped back onto the couch, a proud smirk plastered on her lips

Owen rolled his eyes after looking back up at her, "You suck; You've had to have played this before!"

"Dude," Nikita snorted, "I barely have time to catch the news let alone play these EASY games," She turned off the gaming system, and Owen went to the kitchen coming back with a beer in hand.

He laid down on one of the extended ends of the sectional, a curious expression on his face, and drainging the beer from the bottle into his mouth, "Yeah but when you were a kid you had to have like an old school Nintendo or som-"

"Nope."

Owen's brow furrowed, "Really?"

"Really."

"Fine, you didn't get your skills from your childhood, you're competiveness must've come from there. Going all Jackie Chan on your sibilings or something-"

"I didn't have any sibilings, and was that a racist comment?" She was desperate to change the subject; Her childhood and pre-Division days were topics she avoided even thinking about, she definitly did not want to discuss them. Even if she did, Owen would be one of the last people she'd go to to purge her past demons.

"You didn't have any brothers or sisters?" He pushed despite her obvious discomfort.

"What did you expect? After all, Division recruits people with a lack in family," She responded cooly, refusing to let down her guard. The problem was Owen was persistant.

"Sure, but situations vary. When I was a kid, I had an aunt that took care of me and my twin sister," He noticed her inquiringness and continued, "She had a heart attack and a year later, my sister was murdered in a bank robbery; I went after the son of a bitch, succeeded, prison, Division, etc. followed."

"I'm sorry," Nikita whispered, tears stining her eyes hearing the tradgic tale, "Thats terrible... Is that why you saved that little girl... at the bank robbery last year?"

He nodded slowly, "Partly... But hey, this isn't about me, this about you. So, only child?"

"Fotser child," She spart quickly, reeling her legs up onto the couch, "Now can we move back into the present?"

"What a surprise, you're not a sap."

"And you are?"

"Forgive me for trying to get to know the woman- who saved my life- better."

"All you need to know is I can kick your ass in the real world, and apparently the virtual one too."

"Whatever! We're having a rematch!"

"Fine, I'll just kick your ass a fourth time, no sweat off my back!"

It wasn't long before the duo found they were laughing, and Owen stood to his feet, appearing in front of her, "I screw up and you fix it, I lose to your beginners luck and you have no problem taunting me, and even if we don't get along, we have eachother's backs. That sounds ALOT like sibilings to me." Nikita stared up at him in utter confusion so he explained, "I lost a sister, you never had a real brother so how about if we be eachothers brother and sister?" He stuck out his fist and she just blinked at it for a moment, before straightening up.

Her fist bumped his- it was a deal she was secretly pleased with.

/  
It was two days later and Nikita had just fallen asleep in her bed. Over the past half a week, boredom had begun to consume her. There were no productive endeavors as Owen insisted upon waiting for the others before going to the guardian. Normally, she would have refused this suggestion, but considering he was the only one holding the location and intel, it would have been too much effort to do it her way.

Needless to say, defeating the sandy blonde at video games, cleaning equipment, and other mindless tasks were past the point of tedious; She was craving company, specifically Michael's. Being alone for so long, she now hated being apart from her other half. As she wandered the cabin during the day sometimes, she'd wonder what it would be like if her and Michael were there alone- no Owen, no Division, just them. Curling up on the sofa, arguing over the remote, her watching him as he cooked a delicious meal, and them making love in the grandiose bed she was currently occupying alone.

It was nice dream, albeit unrealistic. Perhaps someday they'd have a life like that, a domestic one where they could finally relish in the happiness that they'd been denied for so long, but that wouldn't happen for awhile. Hell, Nikita didn't even know if that was the life Michael wanted.

Her short lived slumber was just that as a car door slamming shut shook her awake. She crept out of the bed, wrapping a coat around her, and grasping her bedside pistol. She walked down the hallway into the living room, cautiously pushing aside the curtain and peering outside, spotting a black vehicle parked in front of the house. Thats when she spotted Alex coming twoards the door. A wide smile broke out across the rogue agent's lips and she couldn't swing the door open quick enough.

"We're here!" Alex squealed in between chattering teeth, bouncing over to her mentor.

"I can see," Nikita noted happily, welcoming the young woman into the home and enveloping her in her arms.

Alex was still shaking when they retracted, "Why the hell didn't you tell me how freezing it is here?"

"This nothing; If you want cold, go to Toronto in the winter," A male voice exclaimed and the girls turned to see Owen coming down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "Glad you're finally here Shortie."

The 19-year-old inadvertantly lit up hearing her new moniker, "Missed me?"

"Yes. The only company I had was this one," Coming to Nikita and bumping her shouldar with his, "Who just moped about Percy's lap dog not being here." Nikita punched him (hard!) on his arm and excused herself, making her way out the front door. Upon exiting, she saw Michael opening the driver's door and escaping the rental car. The couples' eyes locked instantly in the starry-lit night sky.

"Hey stranger," Michael teased with a smile, both ignoring a brief, bone-chilling breeze that swept through.

His woman took in his appearance and smirked, taking a few steps forward, "Who would have thought suit-wearing, mastered assassin Michael in the deserted mountains wearing jeans and a winter coat."

"Should I leave or just take off the jeans and coat?" He jested and he scooped Nikita up in his arms as she bound towards him.

"Do the first one and I'll hurt you," She threatened menacingly, still held up in his strong embrace.

"And the second?"

A gleam hit her eyes, and she leaned in closer so her lips were hovering just above his, "If you DON'T do that one, I'll kill you." They smiled against eachothers lips as they met in a passionate kiss, only for it to be broken by another's voice.

"Hey lovebirds! I didn't come all the way here to get frostbite AND the stomach flu."

Michael set Nikita down on the snow blanketed ground, her snapping around to see Birkoff passing them. In a reminiscent fashion of Nikita's words when the tech nerd found out about her and her beau's alliance, he brushed by her and said, "Surprise Niki."

/  
(A/N: Not going to lie, I have had the most fun writing this fic and can't stop writing for it, so be prepared for more lengthy updates! I really love it and all the different relationships and characters I get to write for and I really hope you all are enjoying it too. I really wanted to showcase Owen and Nikita's unique bond in this chap. because I've seen them as sibiling-type affilitation since 1x10.I tried not to make the whole chap TOO sappy, but at some points I found it warranted it, but I also took a more playful approach to some things, like Mikita's reunion. Oh and I took the liberty w/ Owen's back story, I just made it up so no it didn't say that in the show. Please tell me what you think) 


	10. Late Night and Early Morning Activities

(A/N: I really wanted to take a minute and thank you all SO SO SO much! Seriously one of the main reasons I have been on a writing roll with this particular fic is because of your support, reviews, tweets, just everything! I love you guys' input and your thoughts and love seeing where you're actually wondering whats going to happen next because that means I'm doing something right. LOL. So please keep reading and/or reviewing because it really does make my day! Thank you!)

/  
"Score!" Birkoff exclaimed, retrieving a nonspecific energy drink from the refridgerator, "Not Red Bull, but it'll do."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the large living area, Nikita was pacing in front of the other three Team Nikita members, who were seated casually on the sectional. Hands on hips, she stared directly at Michael, "Any particular reason you didn't tell me he was coming?"

"You don't sound happy I'm here, Niki!" Birkoff accused, striding across the floor and jumping over the back of the sofa, beverage in hand. Nikita ignored the tech genius, her attention remaining on her beau.

Michael shrugged, "Percy sent him on the mission with Alex and I so we'd have on-site surveillance, it was a big op."

"And he let all three of you have extra days off? Doubtful, especially Nerd."

Birkoff opened his mouth to inject, but was halted by his long time co-worker, "Its not as if him being here infringes on our plans-"

"Michael, not only is Percy going to be suspicious that you got Birkoff the time off with you and Alex," She saw the objection in his eyes and finished hastily so he couldn't react, "And don't try to tell me thats not what happened. Not only that, but the asshole could have eyes everywhere! Without Nerd there to intercept-"

"Actually babe," Birkoff chimed in, taking a swig from his drink while a glare was shot his way from the one he was addressing, "I've gone mobile; Anything that could be sent to Division, I see first- anytime, anywhere, no matter where I'm at, even out here in the tundra."

"Impressive," Owen complimented, Alex nodding in agreement.

Nikita, however, still seemed unconvinced so Michael added to the argument, "Not only that, but our trackers can be better monitored with him here."

"Thats right, everyone bask in the glow of my brilliance," The former Shadow-Walker smiled, draining the rest of the enery drink, "Now I wonder if this place has some good cuisine." He stood to his feet, returning to the kitchen.

Nikita blinked, still contemplating the negative aspects of the situatio, but eventually sighed defeatedly, "Alright, fine. I guess I'm happy we're all here together."

"You sound enthusiastic," Alex giggled, trying to cover as much of her body as she could with an afghan.

Owen sitting beside her, nudged her knee, "She just wishes she could be alone with Ralph Lauren over there," His reference about Michael made the Division 2nd in command turn his head and Nikita began to shake hers, "I'm shocked you even own anything that doesn't look like you came from a meeting with Donald Trump." Birkoff began laughing from the kitchen at the poke, munching on a bag of chips.

Michael glowered at the former guardian, "At least I can afford nice clothes."

"Oh yeah I forgot about that big Division bank account-"

"Hey! Don't knock the bank account!" Alex defended, "Its the one thing that doesn't totally suck about Division."

Her addition didn't seem to help as Owen just smirked towards his opposite male, "How much ass-kissing did you have to do for all thsoe suits?" He puckered his lips as Michael was blocked from jumping at him by Alex's small body between the men.

"And you were worried!" Birkoff, still laughing, commented sarcastically to their party's leader.

Even though Nikita rolled her eyes, the arrangement already providing undue stress, she found herself smiling; No matter how frustrating this compelation of unique individuals were, watching them bicker and joke, she felt, for once in her life, she had a real family.

/  
"Dammit!" Alex hissed into the abyss of darkness, glancing down to faintly see the step that her, now throbbing, toe had been stubbed against.

It was 3 a.m., four hours since her, Michael, and Birkoff arrived at the cabin and two hours since the fivesome agreed to get some much required rest. Problem was, Alex was wide awake. She had made her way down the staircase, in the direction of the kitchen, however, the step up from the living room to the culinary station had derailed her. The entire space was dim, Birkoff occupying the couch, since only three rooms existed in the cabin- at least thats what she thought.

A lamp that resided on an endtable in the living room flicked on, startling the young agent who spun around to find Owen staring at her. "What the hell are you doing down here?" She whispered, creeping across the hardwood towards thesectional.

"Call me a softie, but I figured with everything Nerd boy's been doing, he deserved a real bed," He answered nonchalantly with an added shrug.

Alex took a seat on the tan colored fabric, pilfering Owen's blanket, "You know Nikita doesn't like us calling him that."

"She started it!"

"Yes, but thats because they've had a relationship for years."

"So we're just the outsiders to the original Division threesome?"

"No," Alex protested, her nose scrunching at the suggestion, "We just.. we all have different.. connections."

He could've teased that statement, but was more fascinated by her tiny frame concentrating on bundling in the comforter, "How are you so cold? You're from Russia, isn't it like constantly white there?"

"I haven't lived there in years, my body has gotten acclamated to the weather in the States, and..." She released a deep breath and it was evident she was apprehensive to share the next bit.

"You don't have to tell me," He said gently, scooting a few inches closer to the brunette. She looked up at him, keeping her eyes locked with his and sinking deeper into the comfy cushions.

"Its no big deal," She averted her eyes, indicating the opposite of her assertion, "Its stupid actually; I just... whenever I'm cold, or I shake, it reminds me of being alone and going through withdrawls." The pain of the memory was etched out on her face and it struck a chord with Owen. He hadn't known her very long, but in the short span he did, he'd never seen this vulnerable, ashamed girl that was presented to him now. Sure, he'd been through his shae of difficult times, but Alex was a beautiful, young woman- she didn't deserve the past she had.

He boldly reached under her covering, grasping her chilly hand. She seemed confused at this gesture, but he squeezed her hand, his warmth transmitting to her, "Well you'r done with drugs and you're not alone anymore, so..." His sweet sentiment suddenly took a silly turn as he ripped the blankets off her. She quietly squealed and caught his contagious smile, "We're going to Russian toughness back."

"Hey, I think I already showed you how tough I am," She countered with her lips still twisted in a grin.

"Oh I don't doubt your ability to kick ass and I don't doubt your ability to become immune to the cold again."

She rolled her eyes, "I also had furs in Russia."

Owen was pondering a response when he felt her smaller hand curl into his and he tok advantage of the opportunity. Tugging on her hand, he pulled her to his body.

"What are you-" She began to ask, her back landing on his chest and his arms locking around her abdomen.

"Well I'm not a luxury fur, or even a blanket, but I do have pretty good natural body heat," He said in her ear and she unknowingly snuggled deeper into his embrace and realizing her actions too late, was restrained from breaking free.

The intimacy of the position hit Alex and she squirmed, "Owen, we just met-"

"I'm just trying to help a friend."

He wasn't lying, he did want to assist his fellow teammate, but he also couldn't deny there he felt a genuine attraction- emotionally and physically- to her. After Emily, he barely LOOKED at other women in a romantic way, hell, even just having these underlying feelings for the girl wrapped in his arms consumed him with guilt. Emily was his first real love, he planned a future with her only to have it ripped from him. It'd only been a little over 6 months since his love bled in his arms, was he a horrible human being for finding joy in his time spent with another woman? Did it deminish his love for Emily? Did it mean his love for Emily wasn't as strong as he thought it to be?

Alex was asking herself similar questions. Owen was good looking- that was an unavoidable fact- but she never expected him to be someone that she'd reveal herself to, especially in the short time they'd known eachother. A man she'd known for barely a week, she'd informed him of details Nikita didn't even know! Aside from the lack of extended time, he was a widower and she was with Nathan, a man she really cared for and who treated her amazingly. Consdering these reasons alone, whatever attraction or connection she felt with Owen, it had to remain suppressed.

At the same time, his arms fit so well around her and the heat eminating from his body kept her toasty. "Thank you," She abruptly whispered and Owen covered them with a blanket he had removed earlier.

"Forget about it," He shrugged modestly.

Alex rotated her head to look at him, but noting his face was mere inches from hers and she gulped, "You're a good... friend."

Owen nodded, his eyes locked securely on hers. Slowly, unexpectantly, uncontrollably as if some cosmic magnetism were pulling them, they leaned in . Their lips tentatively met and growing in fervor, but staying relatively chaste. The liplock continued until a gust of wind rattled one of the windows in the living room. The duo broke apart, her slithering from his arms and him paralyzed.

"I.. I.." She stammered, standing to her feet and searching for words simultaneously.

"I'm sorry!" He blurt and they shared a pained look before she sprint up from the scene and up to the second floor leaving Owen, alone, with swollen lips and conflicted feelings.

/  
Nikita awoke to a familiar feeling of soft lips and a gruff scruff against her neck. A sleepy smile crawled onto her face, growing even wider as Michael's voice (muffled by his lips on her skin) broke through, "Morning."

"Mhmm... morning," She murmured, eyes still closed. She rolled from her side onto her back, eyes opening to stare up at him; she also noticed the sun beaming in through the windows of the master bedroom. "What time is it?" She wondered aloud and he smirked.

"I figured we deserved to sleep in some," Nikita's eyebrows raised, suspicion written on her expression, but before she could speak, Michael answered her unasked inquiry, "I'm paying you back for those 'Michael, just five more minutes' you always do."

"Michael," She groaned regretfully, running her hand up and down his bare chest, "This is an important day..."

"And five more minutes won't hurt," He leaned down, his lips hovering above hers, "Isn't that what you always tell me?"

Nikita moaned against his lips brushing her own briefly, "I'm a bad influence."

"You are," Michael gravelly voice whispered, kissing her deeply and positioning his body atop of her slender figure. She smiled, the air fill with arousal and the sheets inflamed by their passion, Michael trailed kisses from down her jaw, neck, and chest.

"Fine, five more minutes," She panted in his ear as he brought his mouth back up to collide with hers. Suddenly, she flipped their bodies so her strong legs were straddling his waist, "If you're sure you can handle it."

Michael responded by bucking his pelvis, surprising Nikita but she held her stance. He grabbed her face, pulling her down for another bruising kiss.

Distracted by the entrancing liplock, her back was swiftly slammed back on the mattress and he smirked, "I should be asking you thtat."

"Always have to win don't you?"

"I think we're both winning in this situation."

"We would be if we shut up." Their lips met again, tongues tangling for dominance, bodies intertwining, and each touch igniting a new burst of heat.

However, their love-making was interrupted by the distinct voices of Birkoff and Owen yelling unclear phrases. Michael collapsed beside his lady love, both breathing heavily.

"I'm going to kill them," Nikita growled, daggers protruding from her eyes in the door's direction.

"Not if my bullet hits first," Her beau agreed with the same bitter tone. She sighed, exiting the bed, Michael following as they found clothes to wear for the new day.

"We should just be grateful we had last night," She said, pulling a black sweater over her head.

""Or I could strangle both of them and we could have whatever time we wanted," This statement was rebutted by a look from Nikita and he finished pulling up his pants, then rubbing his forehead in aggrivation, "I know, I know. They're the least of problems." Nikita chuckled sadly, but tried to force a more positive face as he walked up to her and encircled her waist, "I promise we'll have all the mornings, afternoons, whatever we want."

"Yes, we will," She concurred adamently, reaching up and kissing him. They seperated and left the room, embarking on the new day. 


	11. Ghosts of Agents' Pasts

"Geez, its about time you guys got up," Owen commented as Michael and Nikita ventured from their bedroom to the living room. The former guardian and Birkoff were settled on the sectional, engrossed in a video game, occasionally yelling at the screen for no apparent reason.

Birkoff elbowed Owen, a smirk on his lips, "Didn't you hear 'em last night? They needed SOME kind of rest." The men shared a chuckle and Nikita flashed a fake smile before walking behind the sofa, whacking her friends on the back of their heads- hard.

Michael grinned, pleased as the opposite males occupying the room both scowled and rubbed their accosted areas. "We need to start briefing for today," He announced, his counterpart coming to stand next to him- in front of the television, despite the objections from Owen and Birkoff, "Where's Alex?"

"Wannabe Niki has yet to grace us with her presence," Birkoff answered, him and Nikita oblivious as Owen's face flushed which only Michael seemed to notice.

"I'll go get her," Nikita suggested, placing a hand on Michael's shouldar, "Get them focused."

"'Them'?" Birkoff asked in mock offense and in response, the rogue agent held up her hand threateningly as if to slap him again. The nerd's own hand shot involuntarily to the previously slapped spot and Nikita smirked, then disappeared up the stairs.

"I have to, uh, go make a phone call," Owen mumbled, grabbing a coat, and exiting the cabin hastily. Michael watched, with dark, suspicious eyes, the sandy blonde agent leave until his co-worker interrupted.

"Mikey, you need to lighten up on the dude."

"You just tolerate him because you beat him in these stupid games and he laughs at your so called humor," Michael exclaimed, walking towards the kitchen, Birkoff trailing behind him.

"Hey! You just don't have a sense of humor, thats why it goes over your head." However, Percy's faux 2nd in command wasn't paying attention to his friend's insult, but instead observing Owen through the window that sat above the kitchen sink, "You gotta forget about what happened in Toronto... and Chile, I mean, Nikita obviously has!"

"Birkoff, I don't trust him; He's a loose cannon and I won't allow him to put anyone in this group in jeopardy."

"The tech geek came up next him, placing a hand on his shouldar, "You're reaching, man. I think he's a decent guy."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

/  
"I don't wanna do this anymore! Yes, I know its late in the game, but I'm not going to hurt her. Yeah, she deserves it, but... this is going to be mass chaos, you do realize that right? And I'll be the one taking all the shit for it! Whatever, yeah, we'll be there." Owen hung up the phone, anger overcoming him. He ran a hand through his hair, seeing his breath frost in the cold, daytime air.

Needing a release from his frustration, he thrust his phone as far into the distance that his strength woud warrant. It was then he heard an interrupting cough. He crused under his breath before turning to see Michael standing in front of him, hands in pockets.

/  
"Alex?" Nikita inquired from outside her protege's bedroom, knocking on the wood door, "We're about to start going over details for today."

The door swung open, revealing a perfectly put together Alex, "Cool, lets go." Nikita looked at her skeptically and the young agent noticed this, "What?"

"How come you weren't downstairs?"

Her student tried to laugh off this question, "Well would you want to spend an extended amount of time with Birkoff that wasn't mandatory?"

However, Nikita didn't reply with so much as a giggle and Alex gulped, "Owen's down there, though; I thought you two have been getting along." The 19-year-old shifted on her feet upon hearing the former cleaner's name, supplying her mentor with an answer to her absence, "Should've known it was about him." Nikita gently pushed a reluctant Alex back into the bedroom. The light haired brunette groaned, flopping onto the mattress of the four poster bed that accompanied two end tables, a television, a dresser, two bookcases, and a luxerious window seat in filling the generously sized guest room. "What happened?"

"Nothing, its FINE," Alex stressed, but Nikita scoffed, joining her pal on the bed.

"We need to work on your acting skills, they're unconvincing."

"Ugh, its humiliating," Alex complained, falling back and covering her face with her hands, "You're going to dissappointed, it wasn't very 'spy-like'"

Nikita laughed softly, patting her student's leg, "First of all, I could never be dissappointed in you. Second, we're in the middle of no where, what could be so embarrassing?"

Alex shot upright, a dejected glaze in her eyes, "Owen and I kissed." Her friend's brow raised, obviously surprised but not as taken aback as the Russian native had expected, " Why aren't you freaking out and telling me relationships are dangerous and all that other crap?"

"I already told you to live your life, and I'd be a little hypocritical if I said that, don't you think?" Nikita pointed out with a gentle smile.

Alex rolled he reyes exasperately, "Nikita, you and Michael have been in love for like ever-" She saw the rogue agent about to insert herself, "Don't even tru tp deny it! Anyway, Owen and I have known eachother for less than a week! Plus he JUST lost his girlfriend and I have Nathan- ohmygod, Nathan! As if I don't lie to him enough, now I'm cheating on him?"

"Alex, you need to calm down, OK? All this worrying about Nathan, Owen, its not going to help YOU. I know you have a big heart, and you were right that is dangerous-"

"Oh looks whose talking!"

"Exactly, it didn't get me very far."

"You're with the man you love! Ugh, you wouldn't understand."

"Feeling things for two different men at the same time? I wouldn't understand that?" Alex frowned, bewildered by her mentor's words, so Nikita rose to her feet, "I was actually in the same position you were in- about 3 and a half years ago." Crossing her arms, the dark haired vigliante sighed, "I was in love with a man that I worried TOO much about, worried too much about getting him hurt. And than I met a man who, I didn't worry enough about and it ended up getting him killed."

"Daniel." It wasn't so much a question as a statement, Alex had hear bits of the story before.

Nikita nodded, "Daniel. He was a good man who didn't deserve any of the things that came with being involved with me, especially since he was a civilian."

"Like Nathan."

"Mhmm, how many months did it take you to fall in love with Nathan?"

"I don't know, like 3-4 months."

"Thats how long Daniel and I knew eachother, but problem was, my heart wasn't his," A solemn tone over took her voice as she continued, "I was in love with Michael for.. god, it seems like since I first entered Division."

"The days do start to run together in there," Alex mused, crossing her legs on the mattress, secretly eager to hear the rest of the anecdote.

"Yeah but this was different. We just.. we were able to ourselves, not what Percy or Amanda expected us to be; We had fun together. But, we both had different things we had to deal with, and aside from that, I knew what they'd do to him if Division found out about us, or lack there of."

"Well they'd cancel you too."

"Ah, thats where having the heart becomes a problem sometimes, I didn't care if they canceled me as long as he was OK."

"Sounds like real love."

"It was, I mean I think it was- nothing happened between us until a month ago. But anyway, when I became an agent and I got the swanky apartment and I wasn't stuck in that place, I started dreaming of a real life, a normal life; I never had that before."

"Tell me about it," Alex concurred sadly.

"And ideally, yeah, I pictured it with Michael, but in that time period, it wasn't going to happen. Thats when I met Daniel. He was sweet and funny, perfect gentleman, all the things little girls dream of a prince charming."

"But you were still in love with Michael. So did you love both of them?"

"In a way. I.. I don't think I was so much in love with Daniel as I was with the life he represented. Safe, picket fence, the whole deal. I cared about him and I did love him, but.."

"Not in the way you loved Michael," Alex finished with a small smile creeping onto her lips.

"And I feel guilty about that sometimes, because Daniel died thinking I was in love with him, that we had this perfect future- as if it wasn't bad enough I'm the reason he was murdered."

"Hey, you're not the bad person here, you couldn't help how you felt and you didn't know Percy would send some cleaner after Daniel."

Nikita decided not to mention that "some cleaner" was Owen, nor was there reason to, "Thank you, but do you see what I'm saying? I lost Michael, many times and Daniel permanently because I cared too much about both and somewhere in between, hurt myself many times. I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want you to be like me."

"Too late sensei," Alex giggled, standing up and walking to her friend, "But I understand, I just don't know what to do."

Nikita smiled, putting her hands on the young agent's shouldars, "You're going to come downstairs, we're going to map out todays stretegy like nothing happened, and WHEN we come home later with a black box," the confidence was not lost on Alex, who nodded dutifully, "You and Owen can talk, and you'll figure out things from there."

Alex sighed and then looked at her confidant, "Thank you, not only for the advice, but for FINALLY telling me about you and Michael, even if it wasn't detailed."

"You actually want more details than that?"

"Eh, no thanks, I heard you guys last night and that was enough for a lifetime."

Nikita chuckled and wrapped an arm about her protege's shouldars, the two women leaving the room.

/  
Outside, Michael and Owen stood in uncomfortable, tense silence.

"Well this is awkward," Pwen abruptly stated, shifting on his feet.

Michael took a few steps forward, however, keeping a reasonable amount of distance between them, "Doesn't need to be."

Owen had trouble deciefering what confused him more, the actual sentence Nikita's beau had spoken or the calm, serious manner in which it was said, "Who are you kidding? You hate my guts and I don't much like you either."

Michael resisted the urge to roll his eyes, " I can put aside my... reservations about you for the good of the team; If you have an issue, I'd rather you spit it out now than have it affect the op later."

"Wow, this about as comfortable as when you greeted me with a gun," Owen scoffed, about to pass his adversary when Michael's voice threatened through the crisp wind, "If you hurt Alex, I'll have no problem disposing of you."

The former guardian rotated to face the double agent, "Who says Alex has to do with anything?"

"No one, I'm just putting it out there."

"And whats it to you? Nikita's not enough? You want another recruit notch on your bedpost?" He barely had time to blink before a tightly gripped fist collided with his face, knocking him to the snow covered ground. Lying there, he rubbed his wound and glanced up at Michael. Wiping some blood that trickled from his mouth , he stood to his feet, "Ok, I deserved that. I apologize that was a first rate jackass thing to say and I was out of line." Michael remained quiet, his glare resting on Owen. "Truth is, it does involve Alex and I got defensive."

"Whats going on with Alex?" The gentleman with the scruff questioned and Owen averted his eyes, mentally contemplating whether to answer of not.

After a beat, he realized he couldn't win in this situation, so why not? "We kissed."

He looked at Michael who had an unreadable, stoic expression, "And?"

"What do you mean 'and'? Isn't this the part where you shoot me or make sure I have alot more bruises than just this fresh one?"

Michael shurgged, :If Alex wants to be involved with you, that's her unwise decision; As long as it doesn't interfere with our team's efforts, its not my buisness, unless you hurt her."

"Its not that simple," Owen muttered, shaking his head and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Because...?"

"You wouldn't understand," Alex's love interest vaguely explained and Michael cocked an eyebrow.

"Try me."

Owen sighed, looking down again, "The reason Nikita had to save me last year in Toronto, the reason I went after Percy, and the main motivation in bringing him down is they killed Emily. She was my girlfriend, a civilian, and I was planning a future with her." Michael felt his stomach sink, the tale was tradgic and famaliar, but he listened to the rest of it silently, "And now I'm having feelings for someone else when not even a month ago I couldn't imagine myself with anyone ever again." Owen finally looked up at the man he had assumed couldn't comprehend his problem to see a sympathetic expression one his face.

"I'm sorry about Emily," Michael whispered lowly, swallowing hard.

"Thanks."

"And," Michael pasued, mauling over the words that sat on his tongue, "The guilt, it doesn't stay as strong as it is now." Owen squinted, obviously perplexed. "You think, you don't deserve be in love again, because you blame yourself for the reason she'll never have that feeling of love again. You also feel like you're betraying her, like she didn't mean enough to you for you to give up the rest of your life." They were the exact emotions that stirred within Owen, and even though he wanted to know how the man he disliked could empathasize, he desired the solution more so he allowed him to finish. "But soon you have to realize, if SHE loved you like you loved her, she wouldn't want you to give up on your heart, your happiness, your life; Trust me, its the hardst conclusion to come to, but you will."

"How do you know all this?" Owen suddenly blurted and Michael grinned, "Sorry its just-"

"You thought you were the only person to go through something like this? Its alright, I understand that part too. I, uh, I was married with a five year old daughter, Elizabeth and Haley. Found out about a month ago, the man who killed them was actually working for Percy; He was responsible for their deaths."

"Son of a bitch," Owen growled and the other male nodded.

"Sounds about right."

The ex-cleaner looked at him, "So you and Nikita...?"

"I fell for her, pretty hardwhen she was recruited- didn't expect to, didn't want to. It was two years after my family's death and I never imagined I'd feel so strongly for someone again. I felt like I was betraying Elizabeth and on top of that, I was an agent and she was a recruit so we denied any relationship; she was the only person I voluntarily told about my family."

"Wow, so she went rogue and you were, what, just still in love with her?"

"Sounds about right," Michael repeated his prior words, this time with a flickering smile, "She was the one that helped me discover the truth about Percy's association and I realized after that, I couldn't lose her again; I knew Elizabeth and Haley wouldn't want me to lose another girl I loved either, but they're always in my heart so I've come to accept the fact that just because I've moved on doesn't mean they're forgotten. So it doesn't matter, 6 months or 6 years, you'll always feel Emily and the loss, but if you find the right person," Michael's eye caught Nikita passing the kitchen window, the smile he could gaze at all day, plastered on her work-of-art lips, "That pain will ease and you could be happier than ever."

The men stood there for a moment, until Owen spoke again, "I'm sorry, you know, about Elizabeth and Haley."

"Thanks; No one will ever replace them, but I have a family now so getting back to my original point," He stocked closer to Mr. Elliot, "Do anything remotely harmful to her and dealing with Nikita and I will make facing Percy seem like a day at Disneyland."

A chuckle slipped from Owen's lips, "I get it, DAD."

Michael scowled, but the men shook hands, before returning to the interior of the cabin.

/  
Entering, Nikita greeted her partner with a brief kiss and a weary expression. "Everything alright?" She asked beneath her breath and in retort got a deeper liplock.

Pulling away, Michael smiled, "Everythings fine."

She was pulled against him, quickly shooting him a look of 'we'll talk later' beforehand.

"Hey! Mr. and Mrs. Badass!" Birkoff teased, the couple rolling their eyes at his new nickname, "We have a black box to get!"

/  
About an hour later, Owen was driving one of the rental cars, Nikita in the passenger seat, Alex in the backseat. Birkoff stayed at the bain, monitoring the feeds and preparing to play interference in the chance that Percy would call. Michael drove the other rental vehicle; when discussing strategy, Michael and Nikita argued about his presence on the mission, but she reluctantly agreed in case of emergency, having more numbers were an advantage.

They pulled into the designated location and Nikita reached for her weapon, but Owen instructed her that is was unneccesary. Nikita's eyes rolled, her grip remaining on the pistol. Michael appeared, having parked his car a few yards back and walking on feet to the rest of the group. They followed Owen to the back of a abandoned-looking, stone cottage. A creaking, wooden door invited the ensemble into the whose outside was ver misleading of the interior; It was certainly Division updated and supplied.

"The Stones rock," Owen announced and a rustling was heard on the floor above them. "Code phrase."

"No, really?" Nikita scoffed.

"Your code phrase could at least be accurate, the Stones suck," Alex commented and Owen was about to rebutt the opinion when a new voice emerged, a voice that stilled half the team.

"Your music taste was the only thing I didn't like about you." Footsteps, Alex's heart poungding, and Michael's mind racing were the only sounds that could be heard until the guardian made himself visible. Alex gasped, Michael and Nikita each grabbing one of her slim arms to steady her as the mystery man finished his thought, "You know, aside from the whole you killing me thing."

Michael shook his head, Owen gulped watching Alex, and Alex could barely vocalize anything but one word- one name.

"Thom?"

/  
(A/N: Hehe. I like cliffhangers. LOL. Sorry for the long chapter! Please tell me what you guys think. I hope you liked the Nikita/Alex and Owen/Michael stuff. I think if Michael know abou Emily and if this situation actually happened, Michael could really relate to Owen in a way he can't with anyone else. So tell me your thoughts, I love to hear them :D Especially tell me what you think of the surprise ending. Did ya'll see it coming? LOL)  



	12. Unresolved Issues

(A/N: SO SORRY for not being consistent with my updates. I'm trying to change that, but its difficult. LOL. OK so before you read, I must address that this is FICTION. I don't know how to bring people back from the dead or anything. And I am DEF. not a doctor. I tried to make the explanation as general as I could, but hopefully make it believable because we don't know what exactly Division has access to, but we do know they're capable of really crazy stuff. What really inspired this idea was Amanda resurrecting Alex in the season finale so if you need to think of that to really believe it, by all means do that. LOL. I just really want to bring back characters I personally loved instead of just creating pointless new ones. Plus I think Thom adds WAY more drama to Alex's s/l in this fic so thats always fun. LOL. Hope ya'll agree and enjoy the chapter :D As always review, tweet me your thoughts, I love your feedback.)  
/

"No.. no, no, NO! This CAN'T be happening! You're dead, I watched you die! I... I.. killed you," Alex stammered, words simply road blocks to her emotions. Tears streamed down her chees and the only thing keeping her from buckling to the ground was Michael and Nikita gripping her arms. She took in a sharp breath as Thom took a few steps closer.

"Good news, you didn't. Hey man," He said to Owen and the men met in the middle of the room, shaking hands.

"You're the guardian?" Nikita demanded, fire burning in her eyes, lit by anger.

"Hard to believe someone you took down twice could get such a promotion, right?"

However, Thom's words fell upon a deaf crowd with Alex paralyzed in anguish and her two mentors glaring at Owen.

"You son of a bitch," Michael snarled and Nikita glanced over, noting her beau about to pounce.

"Michael," She softly spoke to get his attention. When he obliged to her request and met her eyes, they directed him to the young agent barely standing between them. As a result, he restrained himself.

"Guys calm dow-"

"You don't speak!" Michael viciously cut off Owen and switched his attention to the former deceased man, "How the hell did this happen? How the hell are you alive?"

"Alex, lets get you out of here," Nikita whispered to her protege, but as she turned to steer them both from the room, Alex shakily broke away.

"No, I.. I wanna hear this."

All eyes were on the guardians, who stood awkwardly before the trio. Alex standing out just a few inches in front of Michael and Nikita. Owen nodded to Thom, who cleared is throat, "I want to speak to just Alex."

"Tough shit what you want!" Nikita snapped as soon as the words toppled out of his mouth. She came up beside a silent Alex, putting a hand on the young agent's slender shouldar.

"Those were his conditions; to talk to Alex, in private," Owen further explained, "No black box otherwise."

It wasn't longer until Michael was whipping his pistol from its holster, pointing it straight at the blonde haired man across from him, "There are other ways to get that box and this time," His target went to Thom, "I assure you, there won't be a resurrection."

"Do that and you'll never get your box," Thom threatened, his former trainer squeezing the weapon tighter.

Nikita decided to try and defuse the situation, entering the zone between the men, irritating Michael.

"Nikita, MOVE out of my line of fire," Her boyfriend commanded, but she made no effort to listen, opting to ignore him and look at Thom.

She released a frustrated sigh, reluctance dripping from her voice, "Thom, you can talk to Alex, but Michael will be there too- silent."

"Why him?" Owen questioned and the rogue agent's head snapped his way.

"Because I sure as hell am not sending you and if I went, you'd be dead!" She gestured towards Michael, who cocked an eyebrow, but refused to holster his gun, deciding to interject verbally.

"Like that'd be a bad thing?"

"Michael, we have bigger things to worry about."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Stop!" Alex abruptly exclaimed, the spotlight now shining on her, "I'll talk to him alone."

"Alex..." Nikita warned, concern congested in her tone, but her pupil turned to her with a determined expression.

"I can do this," She defended her decision admantly. Her hand slid to where her own weapon was resting and patted it, "I did it before, if I need to kill him again, I will."

/  
"We're alone, so talk," Alex ordered, wiping her eyes as her and Thom entered an upstairs room of the cottage, leaving the door open per Michael's coercion.

Thom faced her, "I know this must be... jarring for you-"

"Ya think?" The Russian native practically screeched, but reminded herself of the three individuals listening intently on the floor below them and she adjusted her voice to a lower volume, "Thom, how did this happen? I saw you, I watched you just... die."

Her voice quivered, each word dropping in audiabilty and each one tugging at Thom's heart strings. He crossed his arms, trying to decifer whether he should look into her watery eyes or keep his eyes averted. He spent months dreaming of seeing Alex, but he often wondered what he would say; He regularly fluctuated between remorse and anger when thinking about the predicament. On one hand, this was a person he trusted, a woman he'd fallen for, who had lied to him since their first meeting. She compromised his safety and manipulated his feelings to her advantage. How could he possibly have anything but disdain for her?

Then again, how could he have cared for her so much, yet treat her like a criminal? Attacking her when she was unarmed, not even allowing her to defend herself? She might have "killed" him, but could he cast all the blame solely on her? In the end, her actions were for the greater good, could he really harbor resentment over that?

H elooked up from the floor boards his eyes had found when she began to interrogate him, and met her pleading stare, "What you saw.. was me dying, but you didn't see what happened after that."

Alex's head tipped to the side in confusion, "OK, so.."

"I can't explain anything after I passed out or died, I don't even know how to explain it. All I know is I woke up and I was in some room; it wasn't medical, but it was similar, just shadier. Amanda was there."

Rolling her eyes, his former friend muttered, "Ofcourse she was."

"She wasn't very clear on explanations, but from what I gathered, Division has access to drugs that the public doesn't even know about. All she would tell me is that, I had multiple surguries and I was unconscious for two weeks. She was 'nice' enough inform me I was clinically dead, at least for awhile."

"You were. I felt your heart stop beating," She snapped unintentionally. Until she knew more, she couldn't take out her anger on him, "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize, that night was traumatic for a lot of people."

She nodded, biting her lower lip, trying desperate not to think about, "So what happened after that?"

"Well I was complimented for going after you-"

"Wait, what? They found out I was the mole?"

"Alex, I had to tell them! I wasn't exactly in the position not to! And because I was a good agent and proved my loyality, they decided I was worth keeping alive."

"Well congradulations!" Alex loudly scoffed, "So what's today about? Did you work Owen so you could be a good little agent and finish the mission?"

Thom stalked closer to her and she instinctly reached for her pistol, but his hand shot out and covered hers. He peered into her eyes and she saw the Thom she had once had feelings for, the one whose death she internally grieved and accepted his hand as he clutched hers.

"No, I want to join you."

/  
"I can't believe you did this, especially after knowing their history. That was her first kill, Owen!" Nikita hissed fiercely.

"She had to know she didn't take her friend's life!" Owen argued.

Nikita's eyes widened at the former guardian's assertion, utter shock and dismay consuming her, "And you thought THIS was the right way to do that? Did you not consider her feelings at all?"

"The last thing I wanted is to hurt her and trust me, I would've LOVED to do things differently, but it was too late! Plus there was a black box on the line and good guy whose in a really shitty position so I did what I did."

"I knew you weren't trustworthy from the start, I should've put you down when I had the chance," Michael growled, glowering at the opposite male.

"Think whatever you what. I would NEVER put Alex or anyone in this group in harms way," He stressed to Michael and then turned to Nikita, "I was trying to do a good thing."

"Than you should have told us beforehand that Thom was the guardian!"

He wasn't impressed by her statement, "You wouldn't have brought Alex if I had and if I had told her, who knows how she would have reacted! Or if any of you would have actually believed me. I also had to consider Thom's safety and what he wanted; His one condition was to see Alex."

"This supposedly 'good guy' had a condition? You didn't think that was odd? You didn't think we could be falling into a trap?"

"That would imply he can actually thinl," Michael input himself once again.

Nikita spun around to face her beau, "Michael, I can handle this!"

"Apparently you can't."

"Excuse me?"

"Look where we're at Nikita because you refused to see that HE," Pointing to Owen, who could've sworn her saw smoke already steaming from the femme fatale's ears, "is untrustable and a liability to all of us!"

Nikita stepped away from Owen, going towards Michael, unadultrated anger in her eyes, "You're really going to start this now? Here?" Apparently this was a rhetorical question as she permitted litte to no time for it to be answered, "I know you have issues with him and I know he screwed up today, but Michael, you of all people know how important this fight is, how important it is to bring Percy down. Do you honestly believe I'd allow someone to join me if I didn't think they were valuable?

"You needed more heads and Owen has experience; its understandable that you used him, especially with him having a black box, but when I came on, he became a waste of space and if you would've gotten rid of him we wouldn't be here!"

"You wouldn't have a black box either," Owen added and Nikita blocked Michael from lunging at the retired cleaner.

Improvising for what he couldn't do physically, Michael's dark eyes landed on Owen and through clenched teeth and threatening tone, he said, "We still don't jackass."

Nikita ignored Owen entirely, her eyes staying on Michael, "Black box or not, Owen has been a good friend and if I choose to work with him, thats none of your damn business!"

"It is when it comes to your safety! When Division comes after us-"

"Michael until last month YOU were Division coming after ME! In fact the last mission Owen and I were on, you shot a rocket launcer our way!"

"I was aiming at him," Michael emphasized, breaking eye contact with her for a moment to glare at Owen, but reclaimed it quickly, a softer expression crawling onto his face when staring at, "Nikita, I would NEVER hurt you."

"Really? You sat back and watched me get zapped and dragged back to Division not too long ago."

"You think I wanted that? I tried to do everything I could to make sure Division DIDN'T get to you. No matter how difficult you made it!"

"Point is, this past year you were Division and Owen was the one helping me! I can't change my entire goal, my whole strategy, my TEAM, simply because you partnered with me! I would have loved for you to have been on my side from the beginning and I gave you plenty of opportunities to do so because I LOVE you! But I knew it was a decision you had to make in your own time and I understood that, I accepted that! Why can't you accept MY decisions?"

Suddenly a strangled cough broke through the tense moment and the three found Alex and Thom standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"You ready to go?" Nikita asked uncomfortably to Alex who nodded and passed the coveted black box to her.

"Yeah, but now I have a condition," Alex's words baffled the room, even more so as she revealed her terms, "I want Thom and Owen to come with us."  



	13. Figuring it Out

(A/N: SOOO sorry for not updating this fic or my other two! I started classes again and any free time is really spent on vidding, but I promise to try harder! :) esp. for my Liis 33 she is so sweet and has been so supportive in trying to get my ass in gear! this chap. is a bit shorter than I usually like them to be. I actually wrote out the first scene and the Mikita scene about a month ago but never got around to finishing the third scene until this past week. still not entirely happy with it, but hopefully it'll get better. i have lots in store for this particular fic!)

"Damn, its about time you guys got back!" Birkoff exclaimed as soon as the front door to the cabin swung open, Michael and Nikita entering first. "Percy called and what the hell took so-" But that was when the rest of the ensemble shuffled in- including Thom. Birkoff, who was standing in the kitchen, cracking open a pop proceeded to drop said beverage, "Holy shit!"

"Birkoff," Thom nodded shortly, clearly uncomfortable in his new surroundings

"Is that who I think-"

"Yes," Nikita answered before the nerd finished, "And he has a Division tracker so we need that taken care of."

"But he was dead!"

"We're well aware," Alex called out from the opposite side of the room as she tended the flames in the fireplace.

"So Percy-"

"Seymour just fix the damn tracker so Percy doesn't find us all here and kill us all!" Michael erupted suddenly in frustration causing Birkoff to shoot a concerned and slightly frightened glance towards Nikita before scurrying to his portable Shadownet set up.

The femme fatale stalked closer to her beau, whispering in a low, "Michael, can we talk in private?"

The four other occupants in the house watched as Michael nodded without a word and the couple disappeared into the hallway leading to the masterbedroom. No sound emerged from any of the folks in the living room, unnerving Birkoff who chose to break the silence first by look up from his screen at Thom.

"So you're not dead, huh?"

/  
Nikita closed the door to the bedroom upon Michael and her entering. As soon as she did, she turned to him, "Why'd you snap at Birkoff like that, just now?"

"When do I NOT snap at him?" Their voicers weren't raised, but the tension was palpable; he was avoindg eye contact.

"Michael," He shivered as she said his name in that beautiful voice that he both loved and hated, "Don't take out your anger against me on Birkoff. He's annoying but the last thing he deserves is us treating him like crap, Percy does hat enough."

A small chuckle passed through her lips and she noticed the corners of Michael's lips twist upwards in a small smile. She chose to take this as a positive sign.

"You're right... about Birkoff, but you're wrong about it being because I'm angry at you," he paused for a brief moment, turning to face her, "I'm not angry with you, I'm pissed at myself." Nikita's head tilted to the side in confusion and she took a few steps towards him as he spoke again, "I hate Elliot, I hate the position he put us in now and I will always hate him for the danger he put you in before."

"In Montreal," She concluded aloud and he simply nodded.

"I could rip him apart limb by limb for it, but he wouldn't have been able to do that if I had just allowed myself to go with you, to leave Division sooner than I did. If I had, maybe things would be different..."

Nikita reached out her hand, cupping one of his cheeks in it so that he was forced to look directly into her softening eyes, "Hun, I thought we've been through this before." Her smile teased him, reminding him of the night she told him things WOULD be different. "If you had found out about Kasim and Percy earlier, if you had just chosen to leave, that doesn't mean I wouldn't be working with Owen, Michael. I think you know better than anyone that I'm not exactly complacent."

"Nikita doesn't listen to what others tell her? No!" His sarcasm was not lost on her and she pinched the cheek she was holding and he laughed, escaping her grasp.

"I'm not saying Owen didn't mess up today, with Thom, but we're lucky- so far his call hasn't been bad except for the intial shock. Alex trusts Thom, she can now live with knowing her first kill wasn't someone she cared about."

"But Nikita, even with all your training, she's practically still a recruit, can we really trust her opinion?"

"Hey, you trained her too, remember. And yes, I trust her, something that you know doesn't come easily with me."

"I know, I know."

"I trust Owen too," Any small speck of ease written on Michael's face was erased as his eyes wildly accused without his mouth doing any of the work, "I know it sounds nuts after what he pulled today but Michael, he makes mistakes, he's not perfect and niether are we. Who are we to judge?"

Michaeltook his girlfriend's hand from his face, keeping it in his grasp as he stared into her eyes, "I'll judge all I want when it comes to your life and your safety; I lost you too many times before."

"You never LOST me," She squeezed his hand, "And you never will, especially not because of Owen."

"I don't like him, Nikita."

"I know, but you love me."

"Nikita..." He groaned in protest, but staring at her face he realized all too quickly this was one fight he wouldn't win. He leant down, capturing her lips with his own. After the brief smooch, he seperated, keeping his forehead on hers, "Don't get used to getting your way with these discussions."

She smiled at his jest and grabbed his hand, pulling him down on the bed beside her, "We;ll get better at dealing with all of this, working."

"And with Birkoff, Alex, and apparently Elliot and Thom too."

"Yeah we'll figure that out too, but its late," Standing to her feet, she slid her body inbetween Michael's wedged legs, her hands on his shouldars, "We're not gonna get anything productive done with them tonight."

"Hmm.. what about between the two of us?" His husky voice growled, his hands running up her thighs, a gleam of knowing in his eyes.

"Since I won the Owen argument, why don't you come up with some ideas," Her lips gravitated down to his, but just as they touched, she found herself being roughly flipped onto the bed, Michael suddenly looming over her.

"Oh I have lots of ideas," He purred, reigniting the liplock much to Nikita's approval.

/  
"They won't be out again tonight," Alex announced, emerging from the hallway, "But at least they're not fighting any more."

"Gag. Listen Harriet the Spy, just because you pressed your ear againt the door doesn't mean all of us want matching glasses to listen," Birkoff replied with a slight cringe.

She rolled her eyes, climbing over the back of the sectional to sit next to the tech geek, "Well I'm glad they made up, you didn't hear them back at the site- it was BAD."

"Psht. Kid, I've known these two for YEARS. No argument, scuffle, or gunfire can shock me."

"Is that why you nearly pissed yourself when Michael barked at you?" Owen interjected, earning a glare from his video game buddy.

"You think its wise to mock such a beloved and greatly needed assesst in this little group of ours? Especially when you're on the outs?"

"I'm still here," Owen simply stated, a smirk included.

Birkoff's eyes narrowed, "For the time being."

"Stop it," Alex calmy intervened, looking between the two men, "Weren't the two of you like peas in a pod this morning? Enough with the fighting, theres been too much of it tonight."

Owen watched Alex who skillfully avoided DIRECT eye contact with him, her tiny pout matching her sunken posture on the sectional. Knowing it would make her happy, he offered a sincere, "I'm sorry, man."

""Its cool, but don't expect Mikey to be as forgiving as I am," Birkoff advised, tapping at his hand-held computer pad, "And tracker is officially kaput- seriously its like they don't even WANT them to be a challenge."

"I'm not scared of him," Owen mumbled in response to Birkoff's advice.

"You should be," Alex added in the same low tone and all the men in the room turned to look at her. Unnerved by the sudden attention she addressed it with a snapy, "What?"

"Normally you're a mini-Niki all positive and annoying, ESPECIALLY when it comes to your surrogate parents," Birkoff explained and she shrugged.

"I have no doubt Nikita will do her best, but Michael won't let this go. Not only did he put the love of Michael's life in danger, but he put all of us in danger," Her eyes finally shifted upwards to meet Owen's in a heated stare, "Even if we are happy to have Thom back, that pain of betrayl doesn't just disappear." Feeling herself start to swell with emotion, she stood quickly and threw out a general "goodnight" and raced upstairs to sleep off her "exhaustion".

Thom kept his eyes focused on the empty stairs a few lingering minutes post Alex's exit, "Should one of us go talk to her?"

"Afterlife obviously didn't increase your awareness did it?" Birkoff vaguely asked, confusing the newest member, "A new Romeo was moving in on Deadly Juliet before you popped up again."

He gestued towards Owen and his guardian friend hid his obvious surprise, "Really?"

"No, not really, nothing was going on with me and Alex," Owen said with as much assurance his voice could muster.

"Yeah the longing looks in the car didn't give anything away."

"Longing looks?"

"Shut up, Birkoff!"

"I knew when I found you guys rolling around on the floor-"

"Woah, OK.." Thom uttered, trying to compose his thoughts.

"Listen, he's just trying to start shit for his own entertainment, he's making it sound-"

"Dude, I don't care. Alex and I.. we ended a long time ago, truth is we were never really anything to begin with so if you have fallen for her or vice versa, whatever, I just want you both to be happy. Its really hard to find in this messed up situation, but Michael and Nikita evidentally did, maybe you two could too."

Owen was a bit taken aback, "Umm.. thanks Thom, but uh.."

"Don't give me some bullshit lies, go up there and talk to HER."

Owen wanted to protest but decided against it, only slapping his hand and going up the steps in the direction of Alex's room.

Birkoff and Thom watched him go, the nerd turning to him was the sandy-blonde haired male was out of sight, "Finally someone else who can play mediator! I've need a break since 'Mikita' were introduced." He rolled his eyes and continued tapping at his computer.

(A/N: I know, it sucks. LOL. I PROMISE it'll get better. the mikita scene was tricking because you want them to come to an understanding but they're both stubborn and with stuff like this i don't imagining them going "oh i'm so sorry", but really having a discussion about it. kinda like we've seen in S2- OMFG S2 IS THE BOMB but for more on that follow me on twitter LOL. so tell me, what did you like, not like, etc. about this chap. i love the feedback. thank you everyone for sticking it out with me!) 


	14. Showering Dramas

(A/N: first off, SO sorry for not updating sooner. I'm REALLY trying to be better about the updates for my fics, but with school and vidding, its just hard to it in. but luckily i've been making tons of time for this fic because as you all know, it is my favorite and hopefully you guys still like it too! So fair warning, there is some sexual content in this fic, its my first real attempt at "smut" writing, but if that isn't for you, just skip over the section or don't read, i totally understand! thank you for reading and reviewing, it means a lot!)

Tap, tap, tap. Owen's knuckles softly collided with the door to Alex's bedroom.

"I'm sleeping!" A muffled voice was heard from the opposite side. Ignoring this, Owen opened the door and entered without consent. Alex was sitting on the window seat, tears running down her face. She jumoed at the sound of the entrance and surprise morphed into fury as she saw the intruder. "What the hell? What part of 'I'm sleeping' did you not understand?" She hissed, standing to her feet quickly.

Owen smirked, "Yeah you really look like you're knocked out cold."

"Not the point. You shouldn't be here," Her hands slid up to her hips and she averted her eyes, "Please, just get out."

"Well," He started cautiously, walking towards her, "You see, I can't do that."

"And whys that?"

"Because I have a lot of stuff you need to hear."

"You don't have to do this," Alex mumbled, eyes firmly planted on the floorboards. Owen reached out, his hand landing on her lower arm. He felt her stiffen beneath his touch, but was pleasantly surprised when she didn't recoil from it.

"I was a jackass, Shortie. Plain and simple," His less than poetic words ignited a chuckle from the young woman opposite him, "I.. I was have no other explanation that I can say other than I was trying do do something good and it failed."

"Well you got the jackass part right," She scoffed, still not looking directly at him.

"Gee you sure do make apologies easy on a guy."

"Its not my job to make your life easy," Her eyes finally lifted to meet his.

Owen's shouldars slumped defeatedly, his hand falling from her arm, "I know, I'm sorry... that's all I got."

Alex found herself staring at him for a few seconds after his mea cupla. She swallowed and blinked before exhaling with an "OK" and walking away. She resumed her place sitting on the windowseat.

"'OK'?" Owen questioned, utterly confounded. He walked in her direction, his eyes full of bewilderment. She refused his tare, her eyes aimlessly watching the world outside. "So everything is... 'OK'? You're over it? Just like that?"

"Yup," She shortly responded. There was a moment of silence, but Owen didn't leave as he supposed she would have liked him to. She sighed, obviously aggitated. Owen stalked closer and took a seat on the other end of the window seat.

"C'mon shortie," He whispered, finally garnering another moment of eye contact from his fellow agent, "Hit me, scream at me, do something but don't lie to me."

"Why?" Alex's voice cracked, taking Owen by surprise.

"What?"

"Why is it so damn important to you?" She quickly stood from her sitting position, arms folded defensively, "Why do you care about how I feel? We've known eachother for a WEEK, Owen! What the hell does it matter if I'm pissed at you for a little while?"

"We're on the same team," Owen calmly began, standing as well.

"And? So are you and Michael, you and Nikita, and you haven't been this persistent or apologetic with them."

"I ca-"

"Is it because we kissed?"

A sudden cloud of awkwardness developed in the room as the previous night's unmentioned liplock was finally acknowledged.

"Why do you think it'd have to do with that?" He questioned, hands discovering a home in his pant's pockets.

"So its not? It has inothing/i to with what happened last night? We just kissed and thats it, this apology didn't stem for that whatsoever?"

"What do you iwant/i, Shortie? For me to say yes? To say I came up here because we kissed, because I have feelings for you, because I haven't felt so strongely for someone like this since Emily, and because I'm so damn scared at how fast it happened? Is that what you wanted? Well congrats, you got it!"

Another batch of silence fell upon them. Niether could speak, niether could find the words. Alex shifted on her feet, anxiety getting the best of her. She looked at Owen, seeing the mix of shame and wanting in his eyes. She felt horrible for pushing him, for forcing him into that confesson. She also could not shake not only that guilt, but also the flutter that his admission induced in her heart. Her attraction to him was frowing stronger, her emotion attachment even more so. Her own guilt washed over her because while Owen just made her feelings surge even more, Nathan began to fade further from her mind.

Alex cleared her throat, "Owen." When she said his name, the former guardian was startled at first, but when it registered he focused on her. "I.. I feel something for you too and after the kiss..."

Owen grinnged, closing in on her, his face probably less than a foot away from her own, "It was pretty great..."

"Owen, I have a boyfriend."

Four simple words, thats all it took. Owen backed away, his head hanging slightly. Alex's mouth opened, but no other words could be mustered. He looked at her quickly before passing her and heading towards the door.

Alex, suddenly becoming teary eyed called out his name and he reluctantly turned around, holding up his hand to cease her from trying to say anything else, "Its OK... Alex."

The door closed behind him as he left and for one of the first times, hearing her own name actually made Alex feel worse.

"Listen, I don't even know why I'm here," Nathan sighed with annoyance, slumping into his seat on the white stylish sofa, "I'm technically a free agent..."

"Well technicalities don't exactly work here," Amanda clarified in her usual coolness, "Percy wanted an official evaluation."

"And whatever he wants, he gets," Nathan interrupted, mumbling under his breath.

The Division psychiatrist head his words and responded with a sly smile on her painted red lips, "It is jut an examination of the particulars, things that can move your mission in the right direction from now on. So how do you it is going?"

"I think its fine. Alex seems attached and-"

"And you?"

"Excuse me?" Nathan asked.

"It would not be abnormal for you to develop feelings for Alex that go beyond your assignment, but you must cope with these emotions so they do not cloud your judgement; that is what I am here for, so feel free to open up."

The blonde haired male stared at Amanda with a certain level of outrage because of the accusation, but mostly trying to erase images of Alex, her beautiful smile, her touch, the sound of her sweet voice, and everything else from his mind. After a moment of Amanda's chilly voice repeating his name, he matched her eyes, "The only 'feelings' I have will be ones of victory when Alex gives me what I want and we get her and Nikita."

The next morning, Michael's arm stetched out across the bed where he was expecting to feel the warmth of Nikita, but instead discovered a cool sheet filled with empty space. A prior drowsy Michael was suddenly fully awake and alert, panic swelling within him. The hand that had been searching for his girlfriend flew to the end table closest to him, a temporary home to his glock. But when his legs swung over the side of the bed, the door to the bedroom opened, Michael's gun rising hastily, but entrance was made by Nikita who broke into a flirtatious smile, "Deja vu, huh?"

Michael sighed, returning the weapon to the table. Nikita closed the door as her beau shuffled across the room, his arm swiftly hooking around her waist and reeling her into a hug.

"Michael," Nikita chuckled, rolling her eyes, "Michael you have never been this worried when I'm not there."

"Sure I have," He pulled back, "I just normally hide it better."

"Uh huh. So everytime I go for a walk you're gonna act like this?"

"Its not everyday we have two untrustworthy guardians in our midst..." Nikita's head tipped forward, her eyes conveying a stern look to him. Michael roled his own, knowing what her mouth didn't need to say. "Yeah, yeah. I know you want me to ease up." "Its not like I don't understand, I'm still pissed at Owen too, but we talked about this last night- he had good intentions, he just needs some... guidance." Michael cracked a smile as she continued, "Plus, no matter who is here or not, I can.." She trailed off her sentence purposely, eyesbrows raised, awaiting him to finish it.

He groaned and reluctantly added to her thought, "Take care of yourself."

Nikita smiled, kissing his lips sweetly as a reward. "Thank you," She murmured against his lips, her eyes sparkling especially at her boyfriend's amusing frustration.

"Yeah, but like iI/i said last night, I won't stop protecting you- even if you think you don't need it."

"I can live with that," She concede accepting a chaste kiss initiaed by Michael.

He retracted again, grinning down at his grilfriend, "So you went for a walk?"

"Yeah, just wanted to see the landscape one last time since we're leaving today."

"I hate the fact that we have to leave seperately."

"Me too, but you gotta get back to 'work'. Oh by the way, you handled all that with the hotel and stuff in France, right? The last thing we need is for Division to find out about all this, especially with us having the black box."

"Birkhoff's took care of it," Michael nodded dutifully.

"Ah, Nerd, what would we do without him?"

"I know of some things we can do without him or anyone else."

Nikita developed a cheeky smirk on her face at his comment, "Oh yeah?"

"Mhmm... did you work up a sweat on your walk?" He questioned in a low voice, pulling her even closer to him.

"I don't know.. If I did, I may need to get clean before we leave," Her mindtrack followed right along with his in a seamless sync, removing her jacket slowly.

Michael watched, taking in the sight, even if it was just her in a deep red sweater, "Well the only.. gentlemanly thing to do would be to.. assist you with that."

"Michael," She whispered, leaning in so her lips were merely inches from his, "is this your way of asking if I feel dirty?"

Michael not-so-subtley licked his lips and in almost slow motion began to bend down and in a rush of movemtn, picked up Nikita and threw her over his shouldar.

"Michael!" She gasped, slapping his back as he practically ran towards the large master bedroom.

"Such a caveman," Nikita teased, her feet barely landing on the tile floor of the enoumous bathroom before heated, open kisses took place and the only time for breaks was to rip off articles of clothing. Clothes began to be strewn throughout the room hot flesh melting into one another.

Nikita pushed Michael roughly against the entry door, shutting it with a slam. Michael's hands dug into her thighs, hoistering her up, her legs hooking around his waist. With the pair entwined, they manuevered into the stand up, glass encased shower.

Nikita's back was instantly pinned against the sole solid wall and Michael grinded against her, simultaneously using one hand to turn the faucet on, hot water pouring down their intwined bodies. Michael trailed kisses from his lady's lips to jaw and down the cure of her neck, responding properly to the moans that erupted from her.

Nikita slid down his naked torso, hands running down his dampened chest before flipping their positions under the rain of shower water. Michael didn't warrant the change of power for long, charing her into one of the glass panes, shaking it as his hand grabbed the top, Nikita rubbing against him, kissing him fiercely. She nipped at his skin playfully and he groaned, "And you said, I was the tease."

His free hand grazed her smoth, moist skin all the way from her thigh, up the slender core of her body, tickling the side of her breat, until it reached her cheek, pulling her closer as their tongues tangled.

He began to enter her, ecstasy and love finding a fervent embrace and exploding within the couple as they became one. Nikita released an outcry of pleasure, the shower drowning out her lustful noiseswhile her man rocked into her harder. She moved with him in perfect rythem, arching her back, digging her nails into his back, her hot breath hitting his skin, all of which caused Michael to moan her name with certain gratification, pleasing Nikita.

Their firey, sexual exchange continued until both were exhausted. Michael exited her while they kissed deeply. When they finally pulled away, Michael left the stall and Nikita turned off the water. Stepping out of the shower, she was met by Michael wearing a white towel that hung low on his toned physique. He held another white, fluffy towel that he wrapped around her.

"Feeling cleaner?" He smirked, leanign in, placing a sweet kiss on her neck, her lips, and one on her nose.

"Oh thats not the word I would use," She hooked her thumbs onto his waist-worn towel and began pulling him back in the direction of the shower. He gave her a questioning look and she kissed him hotly, "I still have some dirt to iget off/i"

They kissed again as he kicked the door the glass pane door shut behind him before the towels flew over the top.

"Alex?" A voice questioned from the opposite side of her closed bedroom door. Alex, who was finishing packing, tried to ignore the knocks. Despite her effort, the door opened, Thom'd head popping in.

"If this is your way of trying to keep people out, its not working," Alex involuntarily smiled at his comment, her former Division cohort fully entering the room, "Good, I made you smile."

"Shut up," She replied lightly, tossing a few more pieces into her suitcase, "You sure you're alright going with Owen and Nikita later?"

"No, I always need to be attached to you," He joked, nudging her shouldar with his own. Therre was a pregnant pause as Alex fiddled with a piece of material on a silk blouse Amanda had packed for her.

"Its still weird, having you here."

"Thats understandable, I mean, you did shoot me."

Alex rolled her eyes, turning around and punching him playfully in the arm, "Its so nice that you can just joke about that."

"What else can we do? Dwell on everythign that happaned?" Alex shurgged avoiding eye contact as Thom pushed aside the luggage the Russian native was using and taking a seat on the bed in front of her, "Alex? Seriously until this happened, until I came back did you really think about me or what happened?"

"Ofcourse I did," She said in a barely audible tone.

Thom's head tipped slightly, more than a little surprised, "Sure you did. For a week, a month maybe after it happened, but I'm sure you've killed since then, its only natural for the memory of mine to die away."

"Because the only reason I would remember you is because I was the one that pulled the trigger, right?" She snapped, silencing a normally composed Thom. Folding his arms, he listened intently. "Thom, you were so important to me. You were one of the first people, aside from Nikita, that I felt a connection to in my new life. You were the only person I really trusted in Division, the only person I ifelt/i something for."

Thom solemnly stood to his feet, seeming to be contemplating something, but ultimately just reaching out and clasping one her hands with his own, giving it a squeeze. A sad smile came to her face, meeting his eyes as he peered down at her, "I felt something for you too."

Alex could've sworn she detected nervousness in his voice, but she chose to not acknowledge it mainly because of their close proximity which was rendering her speechless. Thom inhaled and exhaled slowly, "But while I liked the girl I knew, I wanna know the real you," He bent down and pressed his lips to her cheek, allowing them to linger longer than neccesary, before he brushed them to her ear and whispered, "Alexandra."

She smiled and he passed her, leaving the room and leaving behind yet another problem for Alex.

(A/N 2: Alright, so what'd ya think? LOTS of stuff being set up on the romantic front for Alex. We have Owen, Nathan, and now Thom looking like an option. So personally, with this fic, who are you rooting for her to be with? Do you think Nathan really cares about her or just his mission for his uncle? Is Thom completely trustworthy? Is Owen? On the Mikita front, they may be having fun now but theres a whole new set of problems coming for them in the next couple of chapters, so enjoy the lovin' while ya can lol. sorry for no birkhoff in this chapter, but we'll A LOT of him very soon in the form of some backstory. AND a familar face from the actual show appears soon. Any guesses of who? haha. As always give me thoughts, crticisms, opinions, wants, etc. I love to hear him. Just hit me up on Twitter or in the reviews.) 


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